ESRC Research Seminar Series: Conclusion
Report
Title of Seminar Series: ‘Identities and
Consumption’ (2004/05 round)
1.
Details of
the Award RES-451-25-4062
Principal organiser: Prof. Christine Griffin, Psychology,
Co-applicants: Prof. Ann Phoenix, Psychology, Open
University; Prof. Robert MacDonald, Social Sciences and Law,
Amount awarded: £14,213
Duration of award: 1st Oct 2005 – 31st July 2007
During the summer of 2006, Prof. Griffin’s father was taken ill and died suddenly, so the July 2006 seminar had to be delayed until later in the year, which had a knock-on effect on subsequent seminars. As a consequence, Prof. Griffin requested, and was granted a no-cost extension to the award until 31st October 2007.
2.
Aims and
Objectives of the Seminar Series
a) Provide a forum for debate at the cutting edge of current research on identities and consumption, bringing together researchers from diverse theoretical approaches and academic disciplines.
b) Provide a forum for discussion of diverse aspects of identity and consumption, making links between a range of relevant topic areas.
c) Enable promising postgraduate research students to present their work to an informed audience.
d) Link cutting edge academic debates on identity and consumption to relevant social policy and rapidly changing practice in specific areas, in particular health.
e) Provide a forum for the development of international links in approaches to understanding the relationship between identity and consumption through the participation of invited overseas speakers who are leading researchers in the field.
f) Forge connections between funded projects, seminar series and research programmes where there is a common interest in issues related to identities and consumption.
3. Publicity and Organisation
The series was publicised via an existing email address list
compiled by Prof. Griffin with the assistance of the co-applicants, developed
from an email list for the previous ESRC Research Seminar Series organised by
Prof. Griffin on ‘New Approaches to Inter-disciplinary Youth Research’ (2000 –
2002). The list eventually grew to over 200 names by the end of the Seminar
Series, including academic researchers from a range of disciplinary areas,
postgraduate research students, postdoctoral researchers, policy makers and
practitioners in the
Information about the series was circulated to research teams on two ESRC Research Programmes: Identities and Social Action (Director: Prof. Margaret Wetherell) and Cultures of Consumption (Director: Prof Frank Trentmann). Prof. Griffin and the other applicants also publicised the Series via posters and flyers at relevant academic conferences. The Seminar Series was also publicised via the website (http://staff.bath.ac.uk/psscg) with information on the programme, lists of speakers and participants and abstracts of talks available as the series progressed.
The main input from the co-applicants was in helping to plan
and organise the seminars in their local areas: at
4. Programme of Events (see Appendices for list of speakers, abstracts and participants)
5.
Seminar
Participants
The decision to hold an open seminar series aimed to
encourage the involvement of postgraduate participants and also practitioners
and local participants in different venues.
This proved a successful strategy that was facilitated by the
availability of travel bursaries and the encouragement of a supportive
atmosphere. The series involved 8 UK-based speakers involved in postgraduate
research; 22 UK-based speakers primarily involved in academic youth research; 9
speakers from overseas (2 from Australasia, 2 from Europe, and 4 from the
In total, 223 people attended the seminars, excluding speakers, an average of 37 participants per seminar, or an average of 44 participants per seminar including the speakers. Overall, this included 27% postgraduates, 6% practitioners and 67% established academic researchers (excluding speakers), or 23% postgraduates, 5% practitioners and 56% established academic researchers (including speakers). A number of participants attended more than one seminar, and a higher proportion of practitioners attended the final two-day conference (18% of conference delegates). Travel bursaries were taken up by 18 postgraduates. Participants from non-academic areas included those involved in government alcohol policy, drugs education and mental health projects. The varied location of seminars attracted local researchers, practitioners and postgraduates, some of whom attended subsequent seminars. A number of speakers also attended several of the seminars.
6.
Demand for
Participation
Since the seminar series was open to all, there were no restrictions placed on attendance, so it is not possible to comment on demand for attendance. There was considerable interest in the series from researchers in business schools, including postgraduates, who especially valued the critical and inter-disciplinary perspective of the seminars.
7.
Meeting the
Objectives
The Seminar Series was successful in meeting all six objectives, as follows:
a)
Making connections
across academic disciplines
Speakers and participants were from a wide range of academic
disciplines, in particular marketing and consumer research, sociology and
social psychology, as well as geography, criminology, anthropology, cultural
studies and education.
b)
Building
links between different aspects of consumption and identity
The six events focussed on different topics, namely health and social policy, branding and marketing, child and youth consumption, representation and consumption, marginalized consumers, cyber-identities and new forms of social and political participation. The seminars shared a common concern with the formation of social identities through negotiation with the commercial sphere, and a number of participants attended several events, thereby strengthening these connections.
c)
Providing a
forum for postgraduate researchers to present their work
Each of the five half-day seminars included one postgraduate speaker presenting work from their doctoral research, and the final two-day conference involved 3 postgraduate speakers (see Appendix 1).
d)
Linking
academic research on consumption, identity and health to policy and practice
The final two-day conference included papers with a focus on national and international policies around alcohol consumption (Casswell; Griffin et al. ‘Young people and Alcohol’ study), and illegal drug use (Blackman; Holt; Measham and Moore); and a panel debate on the UK National Alcohol Strategy between representatives from Alcohol Concern (Shenker) and the government’s Alcohol Strategy Unit (Armstrong): (see Appendix 2).
e)
Developing
international links
Each of the five half-day seminars involved international
speakers from the
f)
Forging
connections between relevant research programmes
Seminar speakers and participants included researchers who were involved in relevant funded programmes, including an ESRC Research Seminar Series on Critical Marketing (Elliott, Shankar, Goulding, MacLaren), and a substantial number from the ESRC Identities and Social Action programme (Wetherell, Kehily, Skeggs, Phoenix, Hey, Thumin, Griffin et al.): (see Appendix 3).
8.
Feedback
from Participants
After the final conference, Prof Griffin contacted seminar participants requesting feedback on the seminar series as a whole. This feedback was overwhelmingly positive, participants valued the supportive atmosphere of debate, which was especially useful for postgraduates, and the dialogue between researchers in different disciplines, practitioners and policy-makers (see Appendix 4 for sample of responses).
9.
Activities
resulting from Seminar Series
The Seminar series website presents abstracts and some papers from the seminars along with details of all seminar programmes. In addition, Prof. Griffin is due to submit a proposal for an edited book based on the final conference on ‘Disorders of consumption’ to a series published by Palgrave emerging from the ESRC Identities and Social Action programme, edited by Prof. Margaret Wetherell, the Director of the ISA programme.
The final conference also served as an End of Award seminar to showcase the research from two related ESRC projects: the ‘Young people and alcohol’ study (Griffin et al.), and the ‘Reverberating Rhythms’ project (Riley et al.). This event provided a unique opportunity to disseminate the findings of these two projects to an international audience of researchers from a range of academic disciplines and to practitioners and policy makers.
1500 words
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Seminar programme
(Dates, venues and speakers are listed below. PG = postgraduate speaker)
Appendix 2: Abstracts
Professor
James Gee, University of Wisconsin-Madison
‘Video games, pleasure, learning and
identity’
What is the deep
pleasure human beings take from video games?
What is the relationship between video games and real life? In what sense are video games art? And, finally, what do the answers to these
questions have to do with learning? In
addressing these questions, I will restrict myself to only one general type of
video game, namely action-oriented games like Half-Life, Deus Ex, Doom III, The
Elder Scroll III: Morrowind, Ratchet and Clank, Jade Empire, or Rise of
Nations, to name just a few. I believe
that good commercial video games are by no means trivial phenomena. They are deep technologies for recruiting
learning as a form of profound pleasure.
I also believe that video games are a new art form, one largely immune
to traditional tools developed for the analysis of literature and film. As a new art form, one, video games will
challenge us to develop new analytical tools.
Finally, I believe that good video games are extensions of life in a
quite strict sense, since they recruit and externalize some of the most
fundamental features of how human beings orient themselves in and to the real
world. As such, they allow for a range
of deep effects that can be harnessed for good or ill. These are the major themes I will take up in
this talk.
Professor Andrea Press &
Ellen Moore,
‘From the house of worship to the marketplace of consumption: Religion,
consumption and political organization in American life’
Many have commented on the
important role religious values played in the last American presidential
election. Our qualitative research,
which included interviews and a media diary study kept during the election,
focused our attention on the role of religion in American politics for our
informants. This led us to a series of ethnographic observations in evangelical
churches and bible study groups, and an analysis of church websites. Our studies of religious spaces revealed the
salience of American consumer culture in evangelical churches and religious
organizations in the
Mr Jacob Habgood, LSRI, University of
‘Skeletons and
broccoli: Designing educational games for video-game consumers’
The past twenty-five
years has produced a substantial body of literature highlighting the
educational potential of digital games (e.g. Gee, 2003; Malone,
1981). Nonetheless
the majority of ‘edutainment’ software over this period has been unable to
effectively harness the motivational potential of games for educational use.
This failing is often due to the absence of any pedagogical design, but this
talk will suggest that gameplay integration and production values also have a
key role to play in appealing to modern video game consumers.After a short
review of the theory, this talk will go on to describe the Zombie Division project.
This project has been designed to empirically investigate the relevance of a
more integrated design approach in creating learning games for a demanding
consumer audience. Zombie Division is an action-adventure game based around a
combat mechanic in which the player must use different attacks to
mathematically divide numbered skeletons in hand-to-hand combat. The talk will
briefly describe the design and pedagogy behind the game before outlining current
and future evaluations.
Dr Monica Whitty,
‘Presentation of self
on Online dating sites’
Cyberspace
can be a liberating space in which individuals can live out their fantasies,
find love, and overcome their social anxieties. The cyber-world is a space in
which individuals can be creative in their constructions of self, and in so
doing can learn more about who they “really” are. Nonetheless, there is also a
dark side to interpersonal communication in cyberspace. Creating new personas
and living out different selves online is not necessarily a positive experience
for the individual re-constructing “self” or the audience(s) of that self. This
paper considers how online daters present themselves on online dating sites by
drawing from interview data. It demonstrates that online daters enjoyed the
opportunity to be more strategic in their presentations of self than they would
when meeting someone for the first time offline. Theories of self, such as,
'possible selves', psychoanalytic theory, and Goffman's theory of presentation
of self in everyday life are drawn from here to highlight different
presentations of self online when compared to face-to-face.
Prof Russell Belk,
What, if anything, is wrong with buying a fake Louis Vuitton wallet? Should the answer to this question differ for a relatively wealthy European and a relatively poor Asian? Beginning with the premise that counterfeiting is a form of unauthorized sharing of brands, this paper situates itself in the broader possibility of sharing ownership of consumer and corporate property. After defining sharing, I recognize that sharing, ownership, and possession are culturally determined and learned behaviors with norms attached to them. I note that sharing can have both positive and negative consequences. I then move to a discussion of the impediments to sharing in contemporary consumer cultures, focusing on extended self, materialism, and status considerations. I next consider incentives for sharing, treating intangibles and tangibles separately. The discussion of sharing tangible goods brings in the concepts of marker goods, brand cults, leveraged lifestyles, heirlooms, institutional sharing, brand piracy, and an emerging movement toward virtual renting. Academic sharing is offered as a case that illustrates some of the difficulties of sharing intangibles like ideas. But virtual communities, online gift economies, and counterfeiting each raise interesting questions and possibilities of keeping while giving. The issues raised by these developments are considered and data from an eight-country interpretive study of consumer attitudes toward counterfeit Louis Vuitton goods are discussed. Certain parallels are found between intellectual property issues in luxury goods corporations and in academia as well as some important differences. I conclude with a discussion of the social desirability of sharing and renting (hiring) and sketch out some ideas for future research in these areas.
Professor Richard Elliott, University of
‘Style subcultures and authenticity of
identity performance’
Through a focus on style sub-cultures and their consumption of fashion
brands and music we can see how identity is performed, how authenticity is
communicated and recognised, and how consumers learn how ‘to get it right’ as
they move from novices to a respected member of the sub-culture. Authentic
identity performances requires more than the materiality of brands: the
important role and significance of bodily hexis in communicating identity is
explored.
Professor
Douglas Holt, Said
‘Jack Daniel’s
Ms Yasmin
Sekhon,
‘The influence of Izatt on identity
formation and consumption’
How does Izatt
(family honour/respect) affect one’s identity in today’s world? This study focuses particularly on second
generation Punjabis living in the
Associate
Professor Dannie Kjeldgaard,
‘The
meaning of style? Style reflexivity in contemporary youth culture’
In much youth cultural theory style has been said to have moved from being an expression of subcultural class formation to individualized identity projects in neo-tribal sociality. This paper shows how style is practiced among young Danish consumers. The key characteristic of their style practice is the reflexivity they bring to bear on their negotiation of global style expression in local identity projects. This style reflexivity manifests itself in the themes of style switching and style code reflexivity.
Dr Paul
Hewer & Prof Douglas Brownlie,
‘Boys, Bevvies and Bacon Sarnies: Culinary
images for thinking young men’
The paper discusses masculinity
as a socially constructed gender practice (Bristor & Fischer, 1993),
examining images that represent ways to 'think gender' or 'do gender'.
Specifically, it explores the narrative content of representations of youthful
masculinity as choreographed within a series of photographic print images that
seek to position the market appeal of a contemporary lifestyle cookery book by
‘celebrity chef’ Jamie Oliver. In this way we set out to render more concrete
discussions of the transformative potential of images of gender relations. We
consider how images of young men 'doing masculinity' in gendered spaces are not
only channelled into reproducing existing gender hierarchy and compulsory
heterosexuality in the service of commercial ends, but also, simultaneously,
into disrupting such enduring stereotyping through inciting subtle reframing.
Dr Alice
Bartholomew and Dr Stephanie O’Donohoe, The
‘Childhood
transitions, consumption and the gender agenda’
The field of consumer socialization has expanded to incorporate children’s socialization through consumption as well as their socialization as consumers. Our starting point in this paper is the debate about whether children are human beings or human becomings. Following Johansson (2004), we argue that these two categories are not mutually exclusive, and we explore how children approaching adolescence use consumption to negotiate the process of becoming older. Specifically, we explore how the consumption of products, media and advertising by Scottish 10-12 year-olds was intertwined with their existential concerns about “becoming”. In addition to showing how consumption of things, media and advertising reflected - and were used to reflect on - their shifting selves, the paper explores their use of consumption to negotiate gendered identities and relationships.
Ms Patricia
Gaya Wicks,
‘Beckham: Hero,
villain or a bit of both? The children's viewpoint’
This paper explores some of the subtle and complex roles
which consumption culture may play in the “moral development” of children. We concentrate on the role of commodified
celebrities in children’s understanding of moral questions, taking
Prof Karin Ekstrom, Center for Consumer Science,
‘The collector’s identity’
Collectors are sometimes
described by others as anti-social, aggressive, competitive, serious and
seeking control. These traits are commonly seen as masculine traits. At the
same time, collectors seem to describe their passion to collect as caring,
preserving, nurturing and creativity. These traits are commonly seen as
feminine traits. In other words, the identity given collectors by other people
seem to differ from the identity they give themselves. Also, there are
collectors who do not consider themselves as collectors, even though their
behavior shows that they are collectors. The purpose with this paper is to
discuss the collector's identity. Does such an identity exist? How is it formed
in relation to the collector himself/herself and other people? When does a
collector receive a collector's identity? The results are mainly based on a
study of glass collectors displaying their collections in a museum, but also
the author's reflections on being a collector.
‘Provincial parvenus:
The subaltern sensibility of
No abstract available
Dr Janet Borgerson & Prof Jonathan Schroeder, School
of Business & Economics,
‘Ethics of
representation: Marketing, communication and identity’
In contemporary marketing communications, images claim center stage. The focus on image – over and above function – challenges basic notions of marketing practice, shifts appropriate topics of analysis, and reinforces the visual domain’s centrality. Serving as stimuli, signs, or representations that drive cognition, interpretation, and preference, images influence what we know and believe. Not surprisingly, images constitute much corporate communication about products and services, economic performance, and organizational identity. Representations of people – models, celebrity endorsers, spokespersons, “average” consumers, managers, and employees – make up a large part of marketing imagery. Moreover, images provide resources for, and, hence, shape, our understandings of the world, including the identities of its people and places.
– What
theoretical tools are needed to accommodate the visual nature of marketing
representation?
– And how
do these interact with models of consumer identity construction?
– What
kind of power does marketing have in the lives of consumers?
– What is the relationship between marketing, consumption and identity?
In this project, we
investigate marketing communication’s role in “the taken-for-granted political
and ethical practices of envisioning others” (Heywood & Sandywell, 1999).
Discussions within marketing communication and consumer research generally
adopt an information-based model of marketing communication, emphasizing
marketing’s role as a strategic conduit of information for consumers, rather
than fully acknowledging how marketing also acts as a representational system
that produces meaning outside the realm of the promoted product or service.
This situation emerges in part because of a failure to confront the theoretical
concerns that arise in the wake of the prominence of the image – including
advertising images, corporate images, and images of identity – within today’s
image economy.
Our work in marketing communication does not include criticism of consumption per se, nor do we take a moralistic stance against materialism or marketing’s possible role in promoting materialistic desires – valid as those criticisms may be. Rather, we focus on theoretical and ethical issues pertaining to representations of identity, in that represented identities profess to express something true or essential about those represented. Just as personnel policies have had to accommodate changing norms about hiring and promotion when it comes to women and minorities, marketing managers must be aware of representational practices that may cause harm. Our analysis concerns not only the ethical implications or consequences of representational conventions – customary ways of depicting products, people, and identities – within marketing communications, but emphasizes the ethical context from which such representational conventions emerge. We introduce an ethics of visual representation that sheds light on the relationships between marketing, representation and identity, and provides a useful framework for research.
Ms Claire Barratt,
Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design,
‘Adorned with ashes:
Mourning jewellery, consumption and the funeral industry’
Over the past few years in
'”Pa
‘Class,
consumption and prejudice: Contemporary representations of “the social scum”’
'Dealing Drugs or Living like Mugs: Consumerism, Crime and Status in a
Prof Sally Casswell, SHORE Research Centre,
‘From a public health
perspective: Alcohol harms, players and policies.’
No abstract available.
Prof Robert Hollands,
Sociology,
‘Putting binge drinking
into context: Alcohol consumption, corporatisation and the night-time economy.’
As levels of alcohol consumption
have risen amongst young people over the last decade resulting in concerns over
'binge drinking' and anti-social behaviour, far less concern has been given
over to the economic and social context of this behaviour in the organisation
and growth of the night-time economy. Particularly important in this respect
has been the creation of new urban brands organised around the 'entertainment'
city as a form of urban regeneration, of which the bar, pub and club industry
is an important sector. This paper looks at the rise of the night-time economy
in 3 UK cities through changes in the economic ownership of the drinks industry,
the subsequent divergence of the commercial 'mainstream' into both mass-market
theme bars as well as style venue, and will look at the impact of these changes
on the formation of youth drinking groups and drinking behaviours. The
presentation will conclude by suggesting that the drinks industry generally
plays a central role in providing a context for problematic youthful drinking
practices, as well as investigating ways that the night-time economy might
'de-corporatise' and diversify into more creative arenas not solely fuelled by
alcohol.
Prof
Presentation on ESRC
‘Young people and alcohol’ study: ‘Re-framing ‘Binge drinking’ as a culture of
intoxication.’
a) The
new alcohol order: Young people and the culture of intoxication (CG)
Description of the
project, entitled ‘Branded consumption and social identification: Young
people and alcohol’, funded by the ESRC as part of the Identities and Social
Action research programme, from 2005-2007. Examples of the context of young
people’s alcohol consumption
b) Young
adults’ drinking as a group-based social activity (WM)
Presentation of
interview data from the project regarding young people’s construction of
drinking as a positive and important group-based aspect of their social lives.
c) ‘Safe,
sensible, social’: British government policy on young people’s drinking (IS)
Brief discussion of
recent government policy, especially the position of the drinks industry, and
the focus on ‘binge drinking’ amongst 18-24 year olds, aiming to combat ‘binge
drinking culture’ and encourage ‘sensible drinking’ and individual
responsibility.
d) The
‘Know your limits’ website (ABH)
Discussion of a
cornerstone of government policy strategy to encourage sensible drinking
amongst young adults in the light of data from the ‘Young people and alcohol’
project, including the ‘Hero to Zero’ campaign.
e) ‘Alternative
creative strategies for social marketing and brand marketing’ (CH)
Brief discussion of
recent alcohol campaigns evaluating two dimensions: 1) the sociality of brand
advertising Vs the individuality of Government advertising, and 2) the
assumption of negotiated reading in brand advertising Vs the assumption of
hegemonic reading of social marketing campaigns.
f) Young
people’s perspective on the ‘culture of intoxication’ (CG)
Presentation of
interview data from the project exploring young people drinking practices in
the context of pervasive point-of-sale promotions in the night-time economy,
and the safety strategies they employ to reduce some of the harms associated
with drinking to intoxication.
g) Conclusion: Re-framing
‘Binge Drinking’ as a culture of intoxication (CG)
Dr Giuseppina Cersosimo,
‘L’equilibrio
desiderata: Women and alcohol in
This research outlines the typologies and symptoms of female
alcohol addiction in
Ms Mandi Hodges, De
Montfort University (PG)
‘Talking in
‘addiction-speak’ in calls to an alcohol helpline.’
In his analysis of interviews with drug users and drug ‘addicts’, Davies (1997) identified various ‘discourses’ or different ways of talking which he formulated into a five-stage model. The third discourse that Davies identified was what he described as an “addicted” type of discourse. Davies identified key features of this type of talk: “Discourse of this type makes open reference to loss of volition and control. Any reference to hedonism or enjoyment is lost and is replaced instead by negative statements about the consequences of drug use”… “Drug use will be described as an inevitable outcome of certain physiological or constitutional factors over which the individual has no control, and have existed over a period of time; or as a forced consequence of negative life events and situations which again have a history” (Davies, 1997: 96)
The central features then can be summarised as: loss of volition and control; drug use is associated with problems rather than pleasure or positive outcomes; drug use is a consequence of negative life events or underlying factors or problems; and there is an element of progression or history to drug problems and drug use. Davies (1997: 96) also notes that: “Our data suggest that type 3 discourse may in some sense be a prerequisite for agency contact, since those who entered full agency contact during the course of the study were employing type 3 discourse prior to such involvement.” The fundamental point here is “those who entered full agency contact” (my italics); so it is the people who go on to receive treatment that employ this discourse. The question this raises is, do these people receive treatment because they talk in this way, hence do they use this way of talking in order to get treatment; does it serve that function? If this is the case, how do potential clients not only learn this discourse, but more importantly, how do they learn that use of this discourse will result in treatment for their problematic substance use.
In this presentation I argue that one of the places that people may learn this is through initial agency contact. Following a close, detailed analysis of telephone calls to an alcohol helpline, I present evidence of Advice Workers potentially ‘training’ callers in each of the above four elements of an ‘addicted discourse’ as identified by Davies. Extracts of transcribed recordings from actual helpline calls are presented in support of this claim. I suggest that, at this stage, these are tentative claims, acknowledging that the findings are based on a limited data set. The presentation concludes by considering the implications of this type of research, ending with a number of proposals both for clinical practice and for future research.
Dr Fiona Measham and Dr Karenza
Moore, Criminology,
‘Policing pleasure:
Official and user constructions of ‘pleasure’ in illicit alcohol and drug use.’
Contemporary British policy on alcohol and drugs, with its broad focus on education prevention, enforcement and treatment, fails to acknowledge the role ‘pleasure’ plays in non-compulsive and non-chaotic consumption, couched as drug policy is in discourses of medicalisation, prohibition, and criminalisation. Recent harm reduction responses to recreational drug use tend to focus on risks, harms and the avoidance of ‘peer pressure’, whilst assuming that the ‘rational’ choice would be to resist temptation. Focusing on the construction of ‘pleasure’ in alcohol and illicit drug use, both within ‘official’ discourses and in user accounts of their experiences, we explore how explicit recognition of (legal, revenue-generating) ‘pleasure’ in ‘sensible’ drinking and gambling is juxtaposed with the apparent denial or silencing of the ‘pleasures’ of illicit and excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol. An ongoing study of recreational ketamine use – including an online survey, in-depth interviews and participant observation – timed to track the criminalisation of ketamine in 2006 and its aftermath, looks at the relationship between intoxication and prohibition, alongside ketamine users’ own accounts of ‘pleasure’. The criminalisation of ketamine is situated within a broader wave of criminalisation of illicit and excessive intoxication through a barrage of recent legislation and punitive responses to licensed and unlicensed leisure. Finally, we suggest that contemporary policing of illicit ‘pleasures’ falls disproportionately on those committed to the UK’s electronic dance music ‘scenes’, continuing the trend of ‘official’ ambivalence towards youth leisure in general, and rave and club cultures in particular.
Dr Martin Holt, HIV
Social Research Centre,
‘Defined by disorder:
Drug treatment clients and the search for normal consumption.’
There
continues to be considerable stigma attached to illicit drug use. The apparent
‘normalisation’ of ‘strategic’ drug consumption within particular contexts,
such as clubbing or alternative music scenes, has not led to a generic
liberalisation of attitudes to all drugs, especially those associated with
injecting, such as heroin or amphetamines. Injecting drug users remain the most
marginalised of drug users, with intravenous administration seen as beyond the
limits of acceptable hedonistic use and a sure sign of disordered consumption.
Not all injecting drug users seek treatment, but when they do they are
generally thought to have developed out-of-control, dependent or harmful
patterns of use, regardless of their reasons for enrolling in treatment.
Participating in treatment does not grant an exemption from stigma; despite
demonstrating a commitment to improving their health, drug treatment clients may
find that attending treatment increases their visibility as failed or addicted
consumers. Progress in treatment therefore requires the negotiation of this
stigma and the search for ‘normal consumption’; practices and subject positions
through which drug treatment clients can find legitimacy as ordinary (or at
least recovering) consumers, where their identities are not wholly defined by
the mark of addiction.
In
this paper I will explore how drug treatment clients negotiate being defined as
disordered consumers with reference to three areas: clients’ treatment goals
and hopes for the future; their experience of methadone maintenance treatment
and antidepressants; and their accounts of managing mental health problems
through practices of self-care. These areas will be illustrated with interview
material from a qualitative study of drug treatment and mental health conducted
in four sites across
Dr Sarah Riley, Prof Christine
Griffin and Dr Yvette Morey, Psychology,
Presentation on ESRC study:
‘Reverberating rhythms: Social Identity and Political Participation in Clubland’.
Political engagement has traditionally been thought of as a set of rights and duties that involve formally organised civic and political activities (e.g., voting and joining a political party). From this perspective there has been a concern over the decline in young people's political engagement, read as evidence of, for example, apathy and alienation. Alternatively, it has been argued that changes in the social organisation of industrial societies has lead to a rise in alternative forms of ‘everyday’ politics, which while meaningful to the participants, are often unofficial and/or located at the individual level. This paper uses neo-tribal theory to examine social and political identities in electronic dance culture (clubbing, partying, raving). Drawing on interview, focus group and participant observation data we argue that in creating its own spaces in which to enact cultural rituals that are characterised by hedonism, sociality and sovereignty over one's own existence, electronic dance culture is an example of ‘everyday politics’. Theories of neo-liberalism and the Blairite project have argued that individual subjects are increasingly constituted as rational citizens responsible for their own biographical projects, and with restricted sense of the efficacy of representative democracy. Within this context, a shift to ‘everyday politics’ makes sense, since efficacy can only be affected at the personal and informal group level. Our analysis suggests that club nights and parties are used to create temporary counter-cultural spaces and that these spaces enable the production of personal and neo-tribal identities based on efficacy, agency and social participation.
Ms Fin Cullen, Sociology,
Goldsmith’s College, London (PG)
“Where are
we gonna go?”: Cotching, respectability and teenage girls’ drinking identities.
A great deal has been written in
the past decade by journalists, policy makers and academics about young women’s
leisure time pursuits. Much of this has focused around a concern that young
women in the
Mr Peter Thomas, Geography, University of
”I don’t care how I feel
tomorrow because it’s worth it. Everybody’s just in a party mood and having a
good time with each other, and I don’t see how you could do that sober”: The
place of alcohol in producing social spaces at Glastonbury Music Festival.
The spaces of the music festival are highly regulated by the festival organiser. Particular structures are mobilised to produce spaces that are economically profitable. This includes the use of security and surveillance mechanisms to regulate just what the body can do. The consumption practices of festival participants are used to produce different kinds of spaces through the enactment of specifically festival-performances. It is argued in this paper that it is the perseverance of festival participants to control their consumption practices within the festival, despite the best attempts of the festival organiser, that helps produce the rich and varied spaces which makes the festival appealing to festival participants. In this paper I focus specifically on the consumption practices involving alcohol and drugs and how these are used as tools to transform the body into a festival participating body, a body that is attempting to produce festival space on its own terms.
Dr Shane Blackman, Media & Cultural Studies,
Christ’s College,
‘Abstinence on the offensive?’ critical reflections on drug
normalisation, youth subultural identities and the new forms of drug
prevention, desistance, normative education and the ‘Blueprint.’
The approach of harm reduction is often perceived to be in ascendancy as government policies and frameworks talk about choice, flexibility, community and prevention of harm. The first line on the front page of the government website wiredforhealth.gov. states: the aim of drug prevention is to “reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs as measured by the Drug Harm Index”. Recently, we have seen three new developments within drug education focusing on the notion of normative education, the concept of desistance and the development of the ‘Blueprint’ drug policy. The language of description used by government suggests a new focus emphasising the strengths of harm reduction. But what I want to argue is that inside the new policy resides the unshakable kernel of abstinence. I want to use the ideas of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze as a means to support the argument that harm reduction is based on social and cultural realism. In contrast, the goals of primary prevention proposed by the United Nations and the British Government are not merely unrealistic, but present an interpretation of drugs in society, which ignores an understanding of people, culture or history. The aim of drug prevention i.e. a ‘drug free society’ is a political agenda that shows little awareness of how drugs have shaped society, whereas harm reduction fits in with Deleuze’ argument which shows an awareness of how drugs have played different roles in human history. Harm reduction messages are being used to make policies appear progressive and enlightened, but little has changed while the doctrine of abstinence is reasserted at the core of these messages.
Dr Ciaran O’Hagan,
Hackney Drug Action Team,
‘A model of contemporary
drug use at dance events’
This presentation attempts to move away for the often binary divisions set out between recreational and dependent drug use that still exist within discussions concerning young people's substance use. An alternative model based on ethnographic fieldwork observations will be examined to encourage researchers and practitioners to consider the fluid nature of contemporary dance event drug using practices. Three inter-connected categories consisting of ‘illicit’, ‘legal’ and ‘non-drug’ use will be explored in relation to the creation of minimal, moderate, and excessive poly-drug use repertoires within a continuum of use spectrum. Case studies illustrating ways in which dance culture participants locate and move between these categories as their drug using activities change will be considered. Acknowledging the level of movement that can occur as part of an individual’s involvement with dance culture may aid health professionals in their attempts to encourage and promote the adoption of such strategies within a harm reduction framework.
Appendix 3: Seminar Participants
|
Andrew Bengry-Howell |
Psychology, |
|
|
Danny Beusch |
Sociology, |
|
|
Mark Brosnan |
Psychology, |
|
|
Mathieu Cambier |
PG student, Politics, |
|
|
Peter Clark |
|
|
|
Harry Daniels |
Education, |
|
|
Simon Davies |
Economics & International Development,
|
|
|
Paul Deacon |
European Studies and Modern Languages, |
|
|
Rebecca Edwards |
PG student, Geography, Royal Holloway, |
|
|
Jim Gee * |
|
|
|
Lyndsey Grant |
Nesta Future Lab, |
|
|
Chris Griffin |
Psychology, |
|
|
Monica Guillen |
PG student, Social and Policy Sciences, |
|
|
Jacob Habgood * |
LSRI, |
|
|
James Hardie-Bick |
Social and Policy Sciences, |
|
|
Terri He |
PG student, Centre for Women’s Studies, |
|
|
Richard Joiner |
Psychology, |
|
|
Paul Jones |
PG student, |
|
|
Louise Madden |
PG student, Social Science Dept, |
|
|
Elena Zezlina-Phillips |
PG student, Education, |
|
|
Ann Phoenix |
Psychology, Open University |
|
|
Andrea Press * |
|
|
|
Karen Rodham |
Psychology, |
|
|
Avi Shankar |
School of Business & Economics, |
|
|
Lauren Small |
Education and Professional Studies, |
|
|
Isabelle Szmigin |
|
|
|
Amandeep Takhar |
PG student, De Montfort University |
|
|
Jo Twist |
Head of Digital Society & Media Team, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) |
|
|
Monica Whitty * |
|
|
|
William Xu |
PG Student, School of Sport &
Education, |
|
|
Li Dong Yang |
PG student, |
|
|
Name |
Institution |
Email |
|
Paschal Anosike |
PG student, Management Research Centre, |
|
|
Dave Arnott |
|
|
|
Susan Auty |
|
|
|
Sarah Baker |
|
|
|
Claire Barratt |
PG Student, Central St Martins School of Art & Design,
|
|
|
Caroline Bekin |
|
|
|
Russell Belk * |
|
|
|
Andrew Bengry-Howell |
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Marylyn Carrigan |
|
|
|
Aine Carroll |
PG Student, Dublin Institute of Technology |
|
|
Fiona Cheetham |
|
|
|
Dave Clarke |
|
|
|
Andrew Corcoran |
Department of Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations,
|
|
|
Fin Cullen |
PG student, Sociology Department, Goldsmiths, |
|
|
Andrea Davies |
Management Centre, |
|
|
Richard Elliott * |
|
|
|
Jonathan Elms |
|
|
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Jeff Gavin |
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Christina Goulding |
University of |
|
|
|
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Chris Hackley |
|
|
|
Wendy Hein |
PG student, Management, The University of Edinburgh |
|
|
Mary Ho |
PG student, Management, The University of Edinburgh |
|
|
Margaret Hogg |
Department of Marketing, |
|
|
Hazel Huang |
PhD student, |
|
|
Nia Hughes |
School of Economic & Management Studies, |
|
|
Aliakbar Jafari |
PhD Student, |
|
|
Niamh Kirwan |
PhD student, Dublin Institute of Technology |
|
|
Ros Masterson |
Department of Marketing, De Montfort University |
|
|
Pauline Maclaran |
Department of Marketing, De Montfort University |
|
|
Morven McEachern |
|
|
|
Liz Moor |
Media, Culture and Communication, |
|
|
Jonathan Morris |
|
|
|
Agnes Nairn |
|
|
|
Liz Parsons |
School of Economic & Management Studies, |
|
|
Ann Phoenix |
Open University, |
|
Maria
Piacentini
|
PhD student, |
|
|
Marta Rabikowska |
PhD student, |
|
|
Alan Reid |
Department of Education, |
|
|
Sarah Riley |
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Claire Ryder |
|
|
|
Yasmin Sekhon * |
Institute of Business & Law, |
|
|
Avi Shankar |
|
|
|
Isabelle Szmigin |
|
|
|
Howard Thomas |
English Language Centre, |
|
|
Louise Weale |
|
|
|
Sheena Westwood |
|
|
|
Natalia Yannopoulou |
PhD Student, |
|
|
Catherine Yoon |
PhD student, Department of Media & Advertising, |
|
Name |
Institution |
Email |
|
Tim Jones |
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Paul Jones |
PhD student, |
|
|
Dot Miell |
Psychology, the Open University, |
|
|
David Buckingham |
|
|
|
Julie Evans |
|
|
|
Lara Killick |
Dept of Sport & Exercise Science, |
|
|
Hayley Davies |
PG student, |
|
|
Lucy Stone |
Institute for Public Policy Research, |
|
|
Kevina Cody |
Dublin Institute of Technology |
|
|
Amie Kim |
|
|
|
Jo Sanderson-Mann |
PG student, Faculty of Health & Social Care, the Open
University, |
|
|
Fin Cullen |
PG student, Sociology Department, Goldsmiths, |
|
|
|
Dept of Geography |
|
|
Wendy Crane |
Management, Open University |
|
|
Wayne Oakes |
Management, Open University |
|
|
Dannie Kjeldgaard* |
|
|
|
|
Psychology, |
|
|
Stephanie O’Donohoe * |
The |
Stephanie.O’Donohoe@ed.ac.uk |
|
Paul Hewer * |
|
|
|
Patricia Gaya Wicks * |
The |
|
|
Douglas Brownlie* |
|
|
|
Margaret Wetherell |
Psychology, the Open University, |
|
|
Stephanie Taylor |
Psychology, the
Open University, |
|
|
Tricia Jessiman |
National Youth Agency, |
|
|
Rebekah Willett |
PG student, Institute of Education University of London |
|
|
Aliakbar Jafari |
PG Student, |
|
|
Peter Redman |
Education, the Open University |
|
|
Mary Jane Kehily |
Education, the Open University |
|
|
Olivia Freeman |
Dublin Institute of Technology |
|
|
Jenny Douglas |
Education, the Open University |
|
|
Katherine King |
|
|
|
Rosaleen Croghan |
The Open University |
|
|
Agnes Nairn |
Management, |
|
|
Brian Young |
Psychology, |
|
|
Ann Phoenix |
Psychology, the Open University, |
|
Kafia
Ayadi
|
Dept of Psychology, (visiting PhD student from |
|
|
Cagri Yalkin |
PG student, |
|
|
Sarah Baker |
|
|
|
Name |
Institution |
Email |
|
Tim Jones |
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Paul Jones |
PG student, |
|
|
Karin Ekstrom * |
|
|
|
Jonathan Schroeder * |
|
|
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Janet Borgerson * |
|
|
|
Sean Nixon * |
|
|
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Claire Barratt * |
PG student, Central St Martins School of Art, |
|
|
Beverley Skeggs |
|
|
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Jane Hattrick |
PG student, |
|
|
Emily Jeffers |
Central St Martins School of Art, |
|
|
Ane Lynge-Jorlen |
|
|
|
Torunn Kjolberg |
|
|
|
Onyipreye Ekperi |
PG student, University of Manchester Business School |
|
|
Wendy Crane |
Management, Open University |
|
|
Wayne Oakes |
Management, Open University |
|
|
Louise Madden |
PG student, |
|
|
|
Psychology, |
|
|
Fiona Smyth |
Management, The |
|
|
Gordon Hush |
|
|
|
Richard Scullion |
|
|
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Lucy Stone |
Institute for Public Policy Research |
|
|
Kristen Ali Eglinton |
PG student, |
|
|
Janice Denegri-Knoff |
PG student, |
|
|
Tuba Ustuner |
PG student, |
|
|
Wokje Abrahamse |
PG student, |
|
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Sue Eccles |
|
|
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David Evans |
|
|
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Joshie Juggessur |
|
|
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Pascale Ezan |
PG student, |
|
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Mike Molesworth |
|
|
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George Dawei |
PG student, |
|
|
Rosaleen Croghan |
The Open University |
|
|
David James |
|
|
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Brian Young |
Dept of Psychology, |
|
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Dimitrios Tsivikos |
PG student, |
|
Kafia
Ayadi
|
PG student, |
|
|
Katya Williams |
|
|
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Liz Moor |
|
|
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Ruth Ponsford |
PG student, The Open University |
|
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Jason Pelplinski |
PG student, Psychology, |
|
|
Nancy Thumin |
|
|
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Caroline Bekin |
|
|
|
Yasmin Sekhon |
PG student, |
|
|
Nick Cambridge |
|
|
|
Ivonne Hoeger |
|
|
|
Jill Farquar |
|
|
Catherine
Hyunsun Yoon
|
PG student, |
|
|
T.Melawar |
|
|
|
|
PG student, |
|
|
Name |
Institution |
Email |
|
Rob MacDonald * |
|
|
|
Tracy Shildrick * |
|
|
|
Colin Webster * |
|
|
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Elizabeth Chin * |
|
|
|
Julie Evans * |
|
|
|
Craig Ancrum * |
PG student, |
|
|
Pat Allatt |
|
c/o peter.allatt@onyxnet.co.uk |
|
Robert Hollands |
|
Robert.hollands@newcastle.ac.uk |
|
Theeranuch Pusaksrikit |
PG student, |
Theeranuch.Pusaksrikit@dom01.mbs.ac.uk |
|
Julia Candy |
|
|
|
Ruth Ponsford |
PG student, The Open University |
|
|
Steve Taylor |
|
|
|
Onyipreye Ekperi |
PG student, University of Manchester Business School |
|
|
Peter Thomas |
PG student, Geography, |
|
|
Tom Gibbons |
|
|
|
Sarit Carlebach |
|
|
|
|
Department of Psychology, |
|
|
Shawn Costello |
|
|
|
Patrick Alexander |
St |
|
|
Anca Roberts |
|
Anca.Roberts@northampton.ac.uk
|
|
Valerie Hey |
|
|
|
Peter Rogers |
|
|
|
Kevin Dixon |
|
|
|
John Carter |
|
|
|
Georgios Antonoploulos |
|
|
|
Neil Marley |
|
|
|
Barbara Crosbie |
|
|
|
Mark Cieslik |
|
|
|
Carrie Singleton |
|
|
|
Margarita Kominouu |
|
|
Name |
Institution |
Email |
|
Andrew Bengry-Howell* |
|
|
|
Shane Blackman* |
Christ’s College, |
shane.blackman@canterbury.ac.uk |
|
Sally Casswell* |
|
|
|
Giuseppina Cersosimo* |
Social Science, |
|
|
|
Psychology, |
|
|
Fin Cullen* |
PG student, Sociology, Goldsmith’s College, |
|
|
Iain Armstrong* |
Alcohol Strategy Unit, Department of Health |
|
|
Mandi Hodges* |
PG student, Psychology, De Montfort University |
|
|
Robert Hollands* |
Sociology, |
|
|
Martin Holt* |
|
|
|
Fiona Measham* |
Criminology, |
|
|
Willm Mistral* |
Mental Health Unit, |
|
|
Karenza Moore* |
Criminology, |
|
|
Yvette Morey* |
|
|
|
Ciaran O’Hagan* |
Hackney Drug Action Team, |
ciaran.o’hagan@hackney.gov.uk
|
|
Sarah Riley* |
Psychology, |
|
|
Don Shenker* |
Alcohol Concern |
dshenker@alcoholconcern.org.uk |
|
Isabelle Szmigin* |
|
|
|
Peter Thomas* |
PG student, Geography, |
|
|
Chris Hackley |
Marketing, |
|
|
Patrick Alexander |
St Hugh’s College, |
Patrick.alexander@st-hughs.ox.ac.uk
|
|
Lin Bailey |
UG student, Psychology, Open University |
|
|
Avi Shankar |
Management, |
|
|
Jane Benanti |
Sandwell Mental Health Trust |
|
|
Elaine Chase |
|
|
|
Rosaleen Croghan |
Psychology, Open University |
|
|
Marion Demossier |
European Studies and Modern Languages, |
|
|
Jenny Douglas |
Education, Open University |
|
|
Susi Winch |
Psychology, |
|
|
Fabiana Forni |
|
Fabiana.Forni@comune.bologna.it |
|
Jeff Gavin |
Psychology, |
|
|
John Golding |
Alcohol & Drug Advisory Service |
|
|
Debra Gray |
Psychology, University of the West of |
|
|
Will Haydock |
PG student, |
|
|
Rosie Herbert |
|
|
|
Colette Jones |
YWCA England & |
|
|
Patrick Kenny |
Dublin Institute of |
|
|
Tim Leighton |
Action on Addiction |
Tim.leighton@actiononaddicition.org.uk |
|
Helen Lucey |
Psychology, Open University |
|
|
Jay Pelplinski |
PG student, Psychology, |
|
|
Guy Redden |
PG student, |
|
|
Jenny Scott |
Pharmacy, |
|
|
Rachel Seabrook |
|
|
|
Pauline Sewards |
|
|
|
Isabella Stefanutti |
PG student, |
|
|
Lorna Templeton |
Mental Health Unit, |
|
|
Julia Tyte |
Psychology, |
|
|
Richard Velleman |
Mental Health Unit, |
|
|
Tony Walter |
Social Policy, |
|
|
Ian Warwick |
|
|
|
Elena Minelli (translator) |
|
Appendix 3: Sample Feedback from Participants
“Congratulations – what a huge achievement and what a gigantic amount of work. I’m thrilled to be involved. Congratulations again – I’m so excited by all the other seminars I just wanted to be there for everything.” (Elizabeth Chin: overseas speaker)
“I enjoyed the conference very much, friendly, intellectual, and some really good critical focus. Fantastic to go to a conference which was exciting!” (Delegate at final conference)
Thanks again for including me in the conference programme – it was an interesting and informative two days!” (Mandi Hodges, PG speaker)
Id-Cons-semEOAreport