Jon,

For what it is worth, my 73 year-old memory, in the field since 1975,  
recalls the SHAD story as you present it.  And for one who prefers to  
be known as "historian" rather than "addiction scholar," I very much  
appreciate your approach and that of the courageous scholars who  
formed it.

Two cents, please?

ernie kurtz

On Mar 11, 2009, at 5:05 PM, Jon Miller wrote:

> Regarding David Trippel's analysis of the SHAD website --
>
> From the start, the Social History of Alcohol Review (now the Social  
> History of Alcohol and Drugs) was biased towards "Social History."  
> The history of this term extends back to before I was born, but it's  
> my sense that in the mid-1960s through the 1970s, "social history"  
> was often regarded as a kind of history that leaned into sociology  
> and primarily concerned itself with social structures and social  
> change. Temperance agitation in the U.S., as well as the practice of  
> drinking alcoholic beverages, with their long, shifting, and well- 
> documented history, looked like a pretty good subject for "social  
> historians." Perhaps some of the Alcohol and Temperance History  
> Group members on this listserv can correct my sketchy sense of what  
> was originally meant by "Social History" when the group newsletter  
> first appeared as the Social History of Alcohol Review. No doubt  
> that the term has always meant different things to different people,  
> especially in a group as international as the ATHG / ADHS. And I  
> also think that "sociology" is not always present in "social  
> history" when people think about the term today. Regardless, it  
> should be noted that, first and foremost, the unifying interest or  
> main "bias" of the group was a historical one.
>
> As for the categories on the website, I can't speak for Matt or  
> David, but when I was writing a lot of those, I filed whatever  
> historical scholarship and news that I found -- in some cases, news  
> reports that explained the recent history of something -- by region.  
> The idea was to emphasize the international scope of the  
> organization and the scholarship. Categories like "addiction" were  
> created for historical work that did not have a region, and then I  
> believe we continued to use the tag whenever the word was included  
> in the title of a work. So "Addiction in Ancient China" began to go  
> into both "Addiction" and "China," though at the beginning all such  
> work went only into "China." I believe that if someone were to look  
> at the entries, and not just at the categories or tags, they would  
> find information about the history of addiction, problem drinking,  
> and control in a whole lot of the regional categories.
>
> Jon Miller
>
>> On the addiction studies issue -
>> Of the 270 or so "Categories" in the right-hand column of the ADHS  
>> website (albeit most are countries and substances), there are (I  
>> think, correctly) only 3 that nominally have to do with addiction  
>> (those 3 all start with the letter "a"), if you count Temperance  
>> that would make 4 topics.  While this may just be a nominal  
>> feature, it seems the Social History of Alcohol and Drugs does not  
>> substantively incline towards "addiction" or "problems" or  
>> "control".  A survey of the saved entries could prove this wrong,  
>> but that may be evidence of media bias, not ADHS blog editing biases.
>>
>> From within, the SHAD (and ADHS) discipline (research and teaching)  
>> seems influenced in the direction of an "addiction", "problems", or  
>> "control" overview by ideological preferences, accepting  
>> historiographical biases, addiction treatment beliefs, and getting  
>> WOD funding.
>>
>> From without, It seems growth of the SHAD discipline is influenced  
>> by material from various related disciplines including those  
>> mentioned before such as medicine, biology, psychology, political  
>> science, government, economics, religion, literature, as well as  
>> sociology and history.
>>
>> But there are also fields that don't come to mind as quickly that  
>> produce SHAD related material as research and teaching "intrude on"  
>> them, too, to use Robin's phrase, such as philosophy, marketing,  
>> business, retailing, wholesaling, international studies, various  
>> art disciplines, music, food sciences, agriculture, and chemistry.   
>> I wonder how many academics or professionals are members of this  
>> list who properly "intrude" into these areas?
>>
>> Here are three topics I find interesting:
>> 1 - How SHAD weathers the various forces influencing it as it grows.
>> 2 - Discovering and understanding the historiographical biases of  
>> the past and present SHAD.
>> 3 - Deconstructing socially prevalent ideologies around alcohol and  
>> drugs, both past and present.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:37 AM, Robin G W Room wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Alan --
>>>   I'm sympathetic with your general line, but you veer off-course  
>>> concerning
>>> the new minimum pricing initiative in Scotland. the best evidence  
>>> is that a
>>> higher price pushes down the amount of drinking by those who are  
>>> very heavy
>>> drinkers or addicted at least as much as it pushes down drinking  
>>> by light
>>> drinkers.  The idea that addiction is so strong that of course  
>>> price will have
>>> no effect is attractive but, on balance, wrong.
>>>   As for the place of an alcohol and drug subspecialty in standard  
>>> academic
>>> disciplines, we are indeed marginal to all -- from sociology and  
>>> economics to
>>> psychiatry and biology.  Literary studies is just one more in this  
>>> crowd.
>>> Kettil Bruun, an alcohol/drug sociologist, once remarked that this  
>>> opened great
>>> opportunities for us as researchers -- we could intrude on other  
>>> disciplines'
>>> territories without them feeling affronted.  I myself have taken the
>>> opportunity along the way, for instance, to revisit literary  
>>> studies (a field I
>>> was in through an MA) to write about the famous generation of
>>> American "literary drunks", and so on, without encountering  
>>> complaint.
>>>    But I recognise this is easier to do if you embark on a career  
>>> in the "soft
>>> money" grant-writing mode, or can get a "hard-money" research job  
>>> in the field,
>>> than if you are seeking a teaching job defined around a  
>>> department's teaching
>>> needs.
>>>    Besides the shared stigma with the clients, the problem is that
>>> alcohol/drug problems fall between the cracks of the major  
>>> professions and
>>> social institutions in western societies.
>>>     Robin
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2009-03-08, at 13:35, Alan Joyce wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear Michael &  John,
>>>> This marginalisation of  'addiction studies' also impacts on the  
>>>> medical and
>>>> related 'caring professions'  with GP's in the UK who work with  
>>>> drug and
>>>> alcohol users frequently incurring  the unwarranted disciplinary  
>>>> attentions
>>> of the
>>>> General Medical Council, the  odium of their peer's and fellow  
>>>> professionals.
>>>> Sadly the  marginalisation of drug and alcohol users is reflected  
>>>> in the
>>>> marginalisation of  those who work with them and- script- them.
>>>> In the early 2000's for  an all too fleeting, brief and heady  
>>>> period that saw
>>>> the creation of the  National Treatment Agency, the recognition  
>>>> of 'service
>>>> user', drug user advocacy  and other user/carer groups, it  
>>>> appeared that
>>> health
>>>> and harm reduction would  finally be brought in from the cold and  
>>>> form the
>>>> axis around which UK Gov drug  and alcohol policy (albeit the  
>>>> alcohol policy
>>> was
>>>> very much an after thought-  tacked on late in the day) - would  
>>>> turn.
>>>> Groups such as the  'Substance Misuse Management in General  
>>>> Practice' working
>>>> party started to  train, support and create an ethos where drug  
>>>> and alcohol
>>>> treatment formed part  of general practice and 'normal' health  
>>>> care. One
>>> could-
>>>> ideally- get ones  methadone script from your family GP at the  
>>>> same time as
>>>> getting treatment for  other health problems. It looked like  
>>>> users, carer's,
>>> &
>>>> drug and alcohol  treatment would finally be released from the  
>>>> ghetto's to
>>>> which they (post Brain  2) had been consigned.
>>>> Sadly & in my view  tragically this proved to be a false dawn as  
>>>> drug and
>>>> alcohol policy became  increasingly subordinated to the criminal
>>> justice/social
>>>> 'engineering' agenda's  of the day as compassion fatigue set in and
>>> politicians
>>>> and rather un-civil  servants found- to their surprise- that  
>>>> methadone was no
>>>> panacea for grinding  poverty, economic and educational  
>>>> marginalisation,
>>>> teenage pregnancy, rising  levels of poly drug(notably crack,  
>>>> cocaine ) and
>>>> alcohol use, homelessness  & the blight of post Friedmanite  
>>>> economic theology
>>> that
>>>> persists to  this day.
>>>> The multitude were  becoming increasingly intoxicated and the  
>>>> spectre of the
>>>> horde becoming truly  revolting- as well as increasingly  
>>>> 'repugnant'- stalked
>>>> the ruling caste &  all who suckled at the manifold teats of the  
>>>> global
>>>> leviathan.
>>>> Anxiety's about the  'emergent' under class, the benefit prole's,  
>>>> became
>>>> increasingly evident and  political, media, social and other  
>>>> commentary from
>>> the
>>>> ruling caste betrayed not  only anxieties but a deep loathing-  
>>>> disgust-
>>> hatred-
>>>> for this 'newly discovered'  urban poor.(The rural poor were  
>>>> 'discovered' a
>>>> little later).
>>>> The media simulacrum  created a land where crime and criminality  
>>>> was
>>>> everywhere- no street-no home- no  car- no property- no person-  
>>>> was safe from
>>> the
>>>> avarice of the non working  poor.
>>>> Further- the children of this new 'caste' of 'ZEK's were a demon   
>>>> brood-
>>>> muggers, violent, illiterate, druggies, hoodies, knife wielding,
>>>> 'shameless',(currently one of the best UK TV drama's- and one  
>>>> that re-
>>> humanises  those who
>>>> have been de-humanised)- they epitomised everything that caused   
>>>> the middle
>>>> classes and all 'decent' people fear, anxiety, loathing &   
>>>> distress. Sadly it
>>> seems
>>>> that Marcuse's maxim - that crime was a form of  resistance to  
>>>> colonisation
>>>> by Capital- albeit one without 'class consciousness'-  was  
>>>> forgotten.
>>>> What's more in a society where conspicuous consumption   
>>>> (Thorstien Veblan?)
>>>> reigned supreme & celebrity 'culture' was the great  levelleras  
>>>> well as the
>>>> lifestyle to which we all should aspire, the  'new' poor wanted  
>>>> it all and
>>> wanted
>>>> it now! Deferred gratification- simply not  possible on a minimum
>>>> income-could be dispensed with- 'take what you want-take  what  
>>>> you need- &
>>> wait for no
>>>> one' . Need a flash car- why not take one- no  need for keys-just  
>>>> a sprung
>>>> centre punch and that BMW is yours for the  taking.
>>>> In response to these anxieties a whole raft of  legislation was  
>>>> enacted
>>>> against the new 'enemy within'. The Prime Ministers son  found  
>>>> drunk,
>>> disheveled &
>>>> disorderly in Trafalgar Square makes headline news  but gets a  
>>>> police car
>>>> 'taxi ride' home. A child born of lower parentage could  expect  
>>>> no such
>>> tender
>>>> mercy- instead the evil spawn of the new poor could expect  a  
>>>> drug test,
>>> an 'Anti
>>>> Social Behaviour Order', Drug Treatment & Testing  orders, and  
>>>> the full
>>>> majesty of the law to be applied to every minutiae of their   
>>>> waking,
>>> sleeping,
>>>> lives.
>>>> The children of the Elite- the likes of David Cameron,  Oliver  
>>>> Letwin, et-al-
>>>> could run amok in Oxbridge restaurants- buying the  acquiescence  
>>>> and
>>>> complicity of the restaurant owners, abused minimum waged  staff-  
>>>> etc- with -
>>>> literally- showers of cash as they quaffed champagne, took   
>>>> cocaine, and
>>> prepared for
>>>> a life in politics and power.(Allegedly of  course).
>>>> Such behaviour on the part of the ruling elite, of the  celebrity  
>>>> culture,
>>>> was hi-jinks and jolly japes- good for a media story or three   
>>>> but no cause
>>> for
>>>> hand wringing, existential angst, or legislative  might.
>>>> But as for the children of those living in 'social  housing',  
>>>> those whose
>>>> parents, parents were the unemployed of Thatchers brave  new  
>>>> Britain, whose
>>>> parents were the children of that generation of the   
>>>> dispossessed, this was a
>>> cause
>>>> for crimminalisation and concern. So we have seen  over the past  
>>>> decade the
>>>> 'crimminalisation' of childhood, childhood is a problem  to be  
>>>> controlled,
>>>> cajoled, managed, teenagers a threat to be monitored,  contained  
>>>> and
>>> constrained,
>>>> clinically and socially pathologised.
>>>> Surplus to the requirements of Globalisation and  transnational  
>>>> Capital these
>>>> children of the poor are unwanted- of no value and  therefore  
>>>> deemed to be
>>>> valueless- to have no values- amoral- these kids were  'feral'  
>>>> and merited
>>>> treating as such. This much the media pundits, the  academic's  
>>>> and their
>>> political
>>>> masters could agree upon- what small comforts the  new lumpen  
>>>> prole's could
>>>> enjoy- cheap booze- fags-heroin-cheap cocaine-cannabis-  was  
>>>> something 'they'
>>> (
>>>> do I mean the ruling caste or the prole poor?) could not  afford  
>>>> nor allow.
>>>> So we have seen the revival of the same old litany &  demonology  
>>>> of old- the
>>>> 'Crack Epidemic', the 'Junky Scum', 'The Brew Crew', all  are  
>>>> redolent of the
>>>> 'whorey' old mythology of past times- when demon Gin was   
>>>> 'Mothers Ruin' and
>>>> opium just a habit- but one that the ruling caste with their   
>>>> ether kits,
>>>> silver syringes and morphine, afternoon teas for the 'lady's who   
>>>> lunch',
>>> could be
>>>> indulged in but one that spelt peril & ruination for the   
>>>> Victorian poor.
>>>> Berridge and Edwards study of opium use in 19th century England  is
>>> illuminating-
>>>> the intrepid investigative reporters who ventured into the   
>>>> 'fenlands' of
>>> East
>>>> Anglia, the public houses of the East End of London where the   
>>>> cheapest beer
>>>> was one potentiated with opium, have an uncanny resemblance to  
>>>> the  reportage
>>>> of the 'dirty' habits and 'vices' of the modern day poor.
>>>> Well- that's gone somewhat off topic and I've - in the  words of  
>>>> Nietzsche :
>>>> "Forgotten my umbrella"- that is the thrust of what I  intended  
>>>> to convey- so
>>>> I'll call it a day- and sign off by sounding my alarm at  the  
>>>> folly of the
>>> new
>>>> Scottish Governments policy of Alcohol related Harm  Reduction by  
>>>> pricing.
>>>> Why my alarm- the idea- as I understand it- is to link  the price  
>>>> of alcohol
>>>> directly to it's 'strength' per UK measure. SO a 500 ml can  of  
>>>> 'Carlsberg
>>>> Special Brew' (despite it's association with the poor it is   
>>>> rumoured to have
>>>> been made for Churchill & was a favoured 'tipple' of this  well  
>>>> known boozer)-
>>>
>>>> which contains 4.5 UK units of alcohol will attract a higher   
>>>> 'levy' than a
>>> 500
>>>> ml can of "Carlsberg Lager" which has about 2 UK units per  can.
>>>> The theory being that this will compel the urban and  rural poor  
>>>> who favour
>>>> strong alcohol and are therefore at greater risk of  alcohol  
>>>> related harm to
>>>> modify there alcohol use and induce them to drink weaker  &  
>>>> cheaper booze &
>>>> brands.
>>>> Sadly- I fear that such measures will see those most at  risk and  
>>>> those
>>>> already alcohol dependent re-prioritise their budgets- with  
>>>> their  favourite
>>> tipple
>>>> coming ahead of such trivial needs such as food, heating, rent,   
>>>> energy
>>>> bills, clothing, health, etc.
>>>> As for the 'binge drinking masses' - if they can afford  to drink  
>>>> 'out on the
>>>> town & tiles' then they will continue to be able to do  so- de- 
>>>> facto- they
>>>> are not the lumpen prole- but those who are relatively   
>>>> privelaged to be in
>>>> waged or even well paid- employment- either that or they are   
>>>> pretty good at
>>> crime
>>>> with the attendant risks 'coming with the  job's".
>>>> I'm not aware of any evidence base that suggests pricing  per  
>>>> unit will
>>>> reduce alcohol related harm- indeed I suspect it may serve to   
>>>> aggravate it
>>> as the
>>>> cost of booze prohibits expenditure on a decent diet and  other  
>>>> things that
>>> in
>>>> themselves serve to reduce the harm of alcohol and/or other  drug  
>>>> use.
>>>> Best wishes: Alan Joyce.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Michael,
>>>> I concur with the wisdom already expressed on this point.  What  
>>>> you are
>>>> missing is this: Alcohol and Addiction Studies does NOT share the
>>> respectability
>>>> of what might be called Diversity Studies, the political  
>>>> correctness of
>>> which
>>>> more or less guarantees space at professional conferences and in  
>>>> hiring
>>>> pools.  Nor does our field qualify as “Identity Scholarship,”  
>>>> another
>>> approved
>>>> approach.   During the heyday of DIONYSOS, the MLA  consistently  
>>>> rejected any
>>>> and all proposed panels in A&AS; perhaps it still  does.   
>>>> Certainly I would
>>> not
>>>> advise a new PhD in English to come out  nakedly and solely in  
>>>> our field.   It
>>>> ’s prudent to regard doing  A&AS – at least in an English  
>>>> department -- as a
>>>> post-tenure luxury.  The reasons for this situation are well worth
>>>> considering, but they are,  unfortunately, among those things in  
>>>> academe (and
>>> elsewhere)
>>>> currently filed  under “mum’s the word”: not to be spoken of out  
>>>> loud in
>>>> public, candor being  potentially hazardous to one’s professional  
>>>> health.
>>> For
>>>> the sake of  younger scholars and of our field, I sincerely hope  
>>>> I’ve gone a
>>>> little paranoid  in these remarks, that I’ve bleakly overstated  
>>>> the case.  I
>>>> welcome  contrary testimony.
>>>> John W.  Crowley
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ____________________________________
>>>>
>>>> From: Alcohol  and Drugs History Society [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>>> (mailto:[log in to unmask]) ] On Behalf Of Michael Carolan
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:37 AM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> To: [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
>>>> Subject: Re: literary  drinking
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As a new member of the  forum (and, believe it or not, a former  
>>>> student of
>>>> Professor Wedge’s), I  appreciate all the recommendations of  
>>>> creative work in
>>>> here. I wanted to share  what a veteran professor had to say  
>>>> about the field
>>> in
>>>> a professional  recommendation he wrote for me recently after I  
>>>> developed
>>>> addiction studies  courses at UMass:
>>>> “Addiction is an area  of study not unlike African American  
>>>> studies or Native
>>>> American studies, and  possibly all the more relevant not least  
>>>> because it
>>>> not yet an established area  of study.”
>>>> As I enter the severely  shrunken academic job market, I am left  
>>>> wondering
>>>> why all I see are openings for  minority, third world, gay and  
>>>> lesbian
>>> studies
>>>> but none for alcohol, mental  illness, and/or addiction? Am I  
>>>> missing
>>>> something?
>>>> With deep  respect,
>>>> Michael  Carolan
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>
>