ABSTRACT
As we have seen in the previous chapter, the development of raves in the late 1980s and 1990s contributed to significant changes in the gendered behavior of young men and women, at least within the dance scene. In an attempt to explain these changes, sociologists and cultural studies theorists argued that the replacement of alcohol by ecstasy as the preferred drug of choice by young clubbers was a critical factor. Whereas ecstasy intoxication led to integrative behavior, alcohol intoxication among clubbers led to violent and disruptive behavior. Although such explanations, which exclusively focused on the substances themselves, could be accused of pharmacological determinism (Measham et al. 2001), and while not wishing to fall into such a trap ourselves, it is, nevertheless, the case that the young men and women we interviewed presented far different narratives about the behaviors associated with alcohol intoxication compared to that of ecstasy or other club drugs.
