ABSTRACT
One of the major difficulties in any discussion of the libertarian notion of liberation is whether it provides concepts which can be usefully applied to pre-revolutionary society. This chapter presents a particular form of behaviour which has been studied by sociologists of the school–drug use. When Jock Young asserts that drugtaking subcultures construct an 'alternative reality' which is 'beyond the ethos of productivity', it is not clear what kind of claims he is making for that reality. Young's book, The Drugtakers, is both a comprehensive analysis of the form of behaviour and a full account of how the interactionist approach is applied to such a topic. It also specifically raises issues about liberty and liberation. The chapter presents the wider question of how the activities of minority groups asserting their rights to full citizenship can be understood in relation to liberation.
