ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the people in this village think about drinking, and examining their own notions of use and abuse. For the outside observer, drunken behaviour appears superficially to offer a few cross-cultural similarities. In many cultures, drunkenness can be said to be associated with the breakdown or redefinition of social convention. This chapter outlines ways in which acceptable drinking is distinguished from unacceptable drinking in Ocongate, and the sense in which getting drunk in this community necessarily involves making a strong statement about one's identity. It discusses related issues firstly in terms of ethnic identification, showing how gender difference is used to emphasise ethnic difference, and secondly in terms of how gender differences are themselves constituted and negotiated in drinking practices. The chapter looks very briefly at the history of alcohol use in the Andes.
