The Consumption, Production and Regulation of Alcohol in the UK: The Relevance of the Ambivalence of the Carnivalesque (original) (raw)
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Alcohol consumption in 21 st-century Britain is of significant interest to government, media and academics. Some have referred to a 'new culture of intoxication', fostered by the drinks industry, and enabled by a neoliberal policymaking context. This article argues that the 'carnivalesque' is a better concept through which to understand alcohol's place in British society today, in terms of production, regulation and consumption. The concept of the carnivalesque highlights how UK alcohol policy, though neoliberal, is located in a historical and moral context. It is also illuminates the ambivalence in drinkers' relationship with the contemporary night-time economy. In this way, productive avenues are opened for understanding drinking behaviour in today's Britain, considering what elements of this might be deemed problematic and why, and developing constructive regulatory policies.
Understanding English alcohol policy as a neoliberal condemnation of the carnivalesque
Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 2014
Much academic work has argued that alcohol policy in England over the past 25 years can be characterised as neoliberal, particularly in regard to the night-time economy and attempts to address “binge” drinking. Understanding neoliberalism as a particular “mentality of government” that circumscribes the range of policy options considered appropriate and practical for a government to take, this article notes how the particular application of policy can vary by local context. This article argues that the approach of successive governments in relation to alcohol should be seen as based on a fear and condemnation of the carnivalesque, understood as a time when everyday norms and conventions are set aside, and the world is – for a limited period only – turned inside out. This analysis is contrasted with previous interpretations that have characterised government as condemning intoxication and particular forms of pleasure taken in drinking. Although these concepts are useful in such analysis, this article suggests that government concerns are broader and relate to wider cultures surrounding drunkenness. Moreover, there is an ambivalence to policy in relation to alcohol that is better conveyed by the concept of the carnivalesque than imagining simply a condemnation of pleasure or intoxication.
Beyond the binge in ?booze Britain?: market-led liminalization and the spectacle of binge drinking
The British Journal of Sociology, 2007
The contemporary night-time economy has transformed British town centres into liminal spaces where transgression does not subvert normative space, but establishes public drunkenness as integral to a negotiated order. The focus of this paper is the wider dialectic surrounding contemporary 'binge drinking', and in particular the relationship between aesthetic processes aimed at encouraging alcohol-related excitement and excess, and those that seek to exert a measure of rational control over the drink 'problem'. It is the logic of the market that informs governmental policy on alcohol, and the binge drinker is central to the spectacle of the night-time economy as a form of self gratification which also embodies forms of repression.
The term binge drinking has emerged as a powerful political tool in the modelling of a transgressive stereotype. This stereotype reinforces traditional notions of 'deviant youth', and creates the impression that alcohol related maladies are confined exclusively to youthful consumers. Consequently, the alcohol consumption of the majority, and the market that promotes and services this consumption, can proceed unhindered by governmental intervention. The binge drinkers status as a 'folk devil' is reinforced by the media exploitation of liminal spaces that utilizes the spectacle of public drunkenness as a mildly admonitory, yet captivating fable of excess, an excess which is central to the allure of the post-industrial night-time economy.
The Sociological Review, 2016
While the real and perceived excesses of ‘binge drinking’ have received considerable attention in policy, media and academic debates, the concept of ‘sensible drinking’ is poorly defined and has rarely been subject to empirical analysis. Using qualitative research, this article explores the drinking discourses of ale enthusiasts as a means of highlighting how understandings of sensible drinking draw on notions of taste, sociability and self-control. Drawing on Elias’s concept of the ‘civilizing process’, the article analyses how these narratives highlight self-control and social regulation as central features of acceptable drinking practices. Emerging from these accounts is a rejection of elements of the night-time economy and the unruly and hedonistic ‘determined drunkenness’ often associated with it.
Gender, class and 'binge' drinking: an ethnography of drinkers in Bournemouth's night-time economy
2009
In early 21st-century Britain there is a focus by media, government and academia on young people's consumption of alcohol - often using the term 'binge' drinking - and how this should be understood and regulated. This thesis argues that contemporary forms of alcohol regulation can be seen as part of a broader neo-liberal mentality of government, encompassing the creation of a classed and gendered figure of the self-disciplined, responsible, ideal citizen. This ethnographic study of the night-time economy in Bournemouth, a town on the south coast of England, considers how young people's drinking practices and discussions relate to these discourses to constitute gender and class. The location and analytical focus of the study complement previous research, which has tended to be based in formerly industrial cities and has either emphasised similarities amongst young people or focused on how drinking practices reflect people's gender and class backgrounds. Interviews were conducted with 20 professionals alongside 45 hours of participant observation resulting in interactions with 113 drinkers. Drawing on the work of Butler and Bourdieu, this study conceives of gender and class as norms that structure people's perceptions of the world and possibilities within it; drinking practices and understandings are both part of these structures and also actions that lead to individuals being consequently classified. Young people's various 'drinking styles' can be arranged on a continuum from the everyday to the carnivalesque. The everyday style draws on the figure of the responsible individual noted in government discourses and oppositional figures such as the 'chav', which distance the speaker from problematic 'binge' drinking in class terms. Other participants labelled such views 'stuck up', as part of a symbolic struggle. In terms of gender, themes of safekeeping interacted with these discourses, as certain practices were considered unfeminine and not 'classy', for example. The thesis argues that, as well as reflecting class and gender, these styles can be seen as discursive resources that authorise accounts of drinking, constituting symbolic capital and therefore class and gender. It is thus argued that the night-time economy is a key site for the formation of class and gender in contemporary British society.
Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2014
The British night-time economy today has been characterised by academics across various disciplines as the result of neoliberal attempts to regenerate the evening economy ‘on the cheap’, leading to the dominance of ‘mainstream nightlife’ at the expense of subcultural traditional working-class alternatives. One preferable alternative offered is the ideal of a ‘diverse’ and ‘inclusive’ ‘creative city’, with a greater focus on ‘culture’. This article shows how such ideas have been taken up in the planning and regulation of the night-time economy in Bournemouth. Despite the current emphasis on the value of making the Bournemouth night-time economy ‘more diverse’, offering more ‘balance’ than the current vista, policy-makers, like drinkers, are aware of the considerable distinctions within the night-time economy. The emphasis on diversity as a policy objective can be understood rather as an attempt to encourage a particular drinking style. In this context, a ‘balanced’ night-time economy refers more to the overall atmosphere than the variety of consumer choice. The ideal drinking style is seen as characteristic of a wealthier group of customers, who will exert a ‘civilising’ influence on the town, as wealth is associated with broader cultural attributes of these ‘better people’. It is therefore argued that local alcohol policy can be seen as neoliberal in the sense of actively creating a particular form of market, rather than letting a free market develop and determine outcomes. The intersection of cultural, economic and social factors suggests that the local approach can be understood as both reflective and constitutive of class.
'Binge' drinking, neo-liberalism and individualism
9th Conference of the European Sociological Association, 2009
‘Binge’ drinking in the UK is perceived by government, media and academics alike as a topic of concern, despite the absence of any agreed definition. The current UK government’s approach to alcohol policy can be understood within the framework of neo-liberalism, its clear morals and ideals juxtaposed with increased opportunities for apparent transgression. ‘Binge’ drinking is constructed – by both media and government – as such transgression, in contrast with the ideals of ‘responsible’ or ‘moderate’ drinking. ‘Binge’ drinkers are seen as hedonistic, excessive and irrational; the antithesis of the rational, self-governing, moral individual that is the ideal neo-liberal subject. Conversely, most academic discussions of ‘binge’ drinking have focused on the contrast with what has been called ‘traditional’ drinking, based in community pubs and understood to have reinforced stable working-class, masculine identities based on workplace relations. ‘Binge’ drinking is presented as an individualistic practice, constructing identities through consumption under conditions determined by big business, with any sense of community being simply brand loyalty created by companies. ‘Binge’ drinking is thus understood not as the antithesis of neo-liberal ideals, but their apotheosis. My ethnographic research of drinking cultures in Bournemouth, UK, suggests that the relationship between individualism and drinking on the British night-time high street is more varied and nuanced than either of these models suggest. Some drinkers did present individualistic identities constructed through consumption, but they emphasised self-control, rationality and ‘good taste’, trying to distance themselves from conceptions of ‘binge’ drinking. On the other hand, many who might commonly be identified as ‘binge’ drinkers denounced the construction of such identities as ‘stuck up’ because of the stress on ‘image’ over ‘having a laugh’, and emphasised instead a sense of community that built on relationships from school and work, not simply shared patterns of consumption. The paper will therefore address the theme ‘New and Old Individualisms’, as it considers how ideas of individualism and distinction inform Bournemouth’s high street drinking cultures.