The Porn-Brokers: Transnational Entrepreneurship in Western Europe’s Pornography Trade

This chapter investigates the role of transnational entrepreneurs in the economic development of western Europe’s pornographic film business during the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on extensive archival research, it shows how these entrepreneurs were crucial to the growth of the industry by capitalizing on cross-border networks to expand markets and benefit from changing pornography regulations. The chapter outlines three key, interrelated features of transnational entrepreneurship in this context: 1) acquiring social capital through building international networks via events such as trade fairs, film festivals, and magazine classifieds; 2) converting this social capital into economic capital by expanding market reach across borders through smuggling and distribution, or by importing goods from more permissive countries; and 3) exploiting location-specific advantages by moving operations to countries with attractive business conditions, such as relaxed censorship. Examining figures such as Walter Bartkowski, John Lindsay, and Lasse Braun, it demonstrates how transnational entrepreneurs facilitated the cross-border movement of pornography by brokering relationships between economic actors. This enabled the transition of pornography from an illicit commodity to an industrialized, commercialized business. The chapter highlights transnational entrepreneurship as crucial for understanding western Europe’s evolving pornography trade and the role such “porn-brokers” played in its international development during this period.