Beyond moralising, disciplining and normalising discourses: Re-thinking geographies of alcohol, drinking, drunkenness

Despite significant advances over the past few decades, geographies of alcohol, drinking, drunkenness remain under-theorised and researched. Indeed, even when applying critical thinking, geographers have tended to unreflexively reproduce, rather than question 'alcohol studies' ontologies and epistemologies infused with moralising, disciplining, and normalising discourses. In response, we present three intertwined research trajectories, informed by broader human geography debates, which offer opportunities to engage with alcohol, drinking, drunkenness more carefully and critically through; relational, flat, and decolonising ontologies; de-determination and intensities of (non)human relations; and ethical and political imperatives of research that ask questions of 'worth' and 'reason'. Specifically, this involves, firstly, reinvigorating theoretical challenges to dominant and long-entrenched political, policy, popular, and academic debates; secondly, pursuing focused empirical accounts of heterogeneous and complex knowledges, practices, materialities, emotions, embodiment, affective experiences, and performances; and thirdly, paying attention to topographies, qualities, forms, and intensities of relational time/spaces beyond alcohol consumption per se. Our conclusion reflects on the challenges and opportunities of re-thinking geographies of alcohol, drinking, drunkenness within and beyond the discipline.

Automated summary

Despite progress, geographies of alcohol lack theory and research. Geographers tend to reproduce moralizing discourses instead of questioning them. To engage more critically, we propose three research trajectories: relational ontologies, de-determination of (non)human relations, and ethical/political imperatives. We recommend challenging dominant debates, exploring diverse knowledges/practices, and examining relational time/spaces beyond alcohol consumption. Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities, we suggest rethinking geographies of alcohol within and beyond the discipline.