ABSTRACT
The chapter shows how the alcohol potlatch, as a form of ritual, represents a phase of political development, departing from the rites de passage of small scale and static communities, and representing a step towards centralised states. Through an examination of the central role of drinking within these, it is shown that they represent a decivilising process, that runs alongside the civilising process of political centralisation, because they result in the subversion of benign ritual forms. A range of examples, from Archaic Greece, captured in Homeric literature, to Celto-Germanic society, captured in Irish and Welsh legends and Beowulf, the Native American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, and the origins of agriculture, particularly the case of Göbekli Tepe, are used to illustrate the nature of the process. The origin of potlatches appears to be in a quickening pace of economic life, allowing a subverting of established networks of reciprocity, the opening of new ones, and an escalation in competitive generosity. In this transformation, alcohol does not seem to be one good among many, but has a particular function, as its association with sociability provides cover for status claims, and it is linked with timeouts, where resentment can be expressed. These have a tendency towards violence, and are linked with the sacrificial mechanism, as described by René Girard, due to the tensions they generate.
