ABSTRACT
Research on small-scale societies has emphasised the generally benign nature of drinking that occurs in them, due to the regulating effect of ritual. This chapter reviews a series of challenges that have been made against this assertion. The first is ‘problem deflation’, where it is argued that an unrealistically positive representation of drinking culture is provided by these researchers. This is due to theoretical models that focus on how order is maintained, a tendency to romanticise distant cultures, a failure to use epidemiological studies to triangulate their studies against, and the status politics of researchers determining their interpretation of data. The second is the example of drinking rituals in contemporary societies, which do not appear to be benign. The chapter shows that these rituals are quite different, being liminoid, rather than liminal rituals, which can be labelled ‘rites of life projects’. Through a process of deritualisation, these rites involving alcohol, have been diminished, banalised, individualised as they occur in the context of liquid modernity and a risk society, have become more fluid and less structured, extended, and have become more focused on manufacturing extraordinary experiences. The third challenge is that the anthropology of alcohol has often lacked a macro level perspective informed by political economy
