A heavy load of symbolism surrounds psychoactive substance use, for reasons which are
discussed. Psychoactive substances can be prestige commodities, but one or another …

A 'provisional description'of the alcohol dependence syndrome was first given in 1976. An
outline is provided of the historical background to the syndrome formulation. Ideas …

What is' addiction'? What does it say about us, our social arrangements and our political
preoccupations? Where is it going as an idea and what is at stake in its ongoing production …

The ubiquity of the disease concept of addiction obscures the fact that it did not emerge from
the accretion of scientific discoveries. Addiction-as-disease has been continuously …

Presents the results of a study of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) phenomenon in the US,
Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and Mexico, examining AA as an …

From the castigation and stigmatization of victims of AIDS to our celebration of diet, exercise
and fitness, the moral categorization of health and disease reflects contemporary notions …

Research findings on addiction are contradictory. According to biographical records and
widely used diagnostic manuals, addicts use drugs compulsively, meaning that drug use is …

The modern ethnographic literature on alcohol tends to underestimate problems due to
drinking. This" problem deflation" probably reflects a concurrence of various assumptions …

Bringing anthropological perspectives to bear on addiction, the contributors to this important
collection highlight the contingency of addiction as a category of human knowledge and …

Originally published in 1984 this book provided the first German case study of a prototypical
19th Century social problem, combining a discussion of popular drinking behaviour with …