Prior to the collapse of Communism, hundreds of thousands of migrants arrived in various localities throughout COMECON countries by way of programmes of mutual cooperation and ‘socialist solidarity’. Since then, many have not returned to their countries of origin, but have become entrepreneurs mostly engaged in wholesaling and retailing. Women and men from various, previously Communist countries now commonly work as street vendors and sellers in open air markets and bazaars across other former Communist territories. Further, after the fall of the Berlin Wall a new wave of people with various ethnic, linguistic, religious and class backgrounds have engaged in petty trading, suitcase and market trading within ex-COMECON countries. Local markets, increasingly comprised of diverse peoples, play key roles in post-socialist economic development while they transnationally link a variety of geographical and socio-cultural spaces around the world.
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