Table Of ContentThis is a phenomenal book. A good shot of history, equal parts anthropology and media
analysis and a dash of wit and wisdom. This is the most sensible and balanced approach
to alcohol consumption I have ever read. It should be required of all college students.
– Ken Albala, History, U niversity of the Pacifi c
Instantly engaging, Janet Chrzan’s historical and cross-cultural overview of views and
practices related to alcohol as a “nurturing beverage” or “dangerous drug,” brings to life
the value of anthropological analysis to university students. Making a compelling case for
alcohol as a “total social fact,” enmeshed as it is with so many other facets of social life,
Chrzan masterfully portrays the social meanings of alcohol use.
– Andrea Wiley, Anthropology, I ndiana University, Bloomington
This lively and accessible book bubbles with intriguing details about the history and cul-
ture of alcohol consumption from the earliest archaeological evidence to contemporary
U.S. college students’ arresting drinking diaries. It is an engaging introduction to anthro-
pology which encourages critical thinking about the practices and meanings of campus
drinking.”
– Carole Counihan, Anthropology, M illersville University
This book should be required reading for any college student who has pre-gamed, bar-
hopped, tail-gated, shot-gunned, played beer-pong, or done a beer bong. Janet Chrzan
puts American drinking cultures in theoretical and comparative perspective, offering
practical advice for limiting the harms of alcohol while still enjoying it sociably.
– Jeffrey M. Pilcher, History, U niversity of Minnesota
Janet Chrzan has captured the all-encompassing hold of alcoholic beverages on our spe-
cies from prehistoric villages to the modern college campus. Whether drinker or abstainer,
we come away from this book with a better understanding of what drives us toward or
away from this most paradoxical and universal of substances. By turns, alcohol can be
viewed as inspirational and socializing, nutritional and medicinal, relaxing and restor-
ative, or dangerous and d estructive
-- Patrick McGovern, Ph.D. Scientifi c Director, Biomolecular Archaeology
Laboratory University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
As a food historian who appreciates the long view of history, I heartily welcome this
refreshing and highly useful book on the social implications of alcohol. With a balanced
selection of material past and present, this is the perfect classroom guide to the basic
issues and mores that have defi ned the role of alcohol down through time. It enlightens
the student, invites self-examination, and hopefully provides a lasting framework for deal-
ing with alcohol as a potent and yet highly deceptive medium for socialization
-- Dr. William Woys Weaver, Director, T he Keystone Center for the
Study of Regional Foods and Food Tourism
Janet Chrzan has written a probing, insightful (and incidentally often very amusing) study
of alcohol use, alcoholism, intoxication, social drinking, and the role alcohol plays in
many cultures, including, most specifi cally, our own. Her broad look at the problematic
role of alcohol in American history is fascinating on its own; peeling back the layers of
meaning in alcohol use and the social messages it conveys, she reveals a context that can
frame much more of our social habits and beliefs.
-- Nancy Harmon Jenkins, author of T he New Mediterranean Diet and many
other books about Mediterranean food, wine, and culinary traditions
The Routledge Series for Creative Teaching and Learning in Anthropology
Editor: Richard H. Robbins, SUNY Plattsburgh
This series is dedicated to innovative, unconventional ways to connect under-
graduate students and their lived concerns about our social world to the power of
social science ideas and evidence. Our goal is to help spark social science imagi-
nations and, in doing so, open new avenues for meaningful thought and action.
Available Bicycles in the City
An Anthropological Perspective on a
Re-Imagining Milk New (Old) Thing
Andrea S. Wiley Luis Vivanco
Coffee Culture Alcohol
Catherine M. Tucker Social Drinking in Cultural Context
Janet Chrzan
Lycra
How a Fabric Shaped America Forthcoming
Kaori O’Connor
Trash
Fake Stuff Monica Smith
China and the Rise of Counterfeit
Goods Branding Gandhi
Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin Ritu Khanduri
The World of Wal-Mart T-shirts
Discounting the American Dream Kaori O’Connor
Nicholas Copeland and Christine Labuski
ALCOHOL
Alcohol: Social Drinking in Cultural Context critically examines alcohol use across
cultures and through time. This short text is a framework for students to self-
consciously examine their beliefs about and use of alcohol, and a companion
text for teaching the primary concepts of anthropology to fi rst or second year
college students.
Janet Chrzan received a Ph.D. in Nutritional Anthropology from the University
of Pennsylvania in 2008.
A L C O H O L
Social Drinking in Cultural Context
Janet Chrzan
First published 2013
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
The right of Janet Chrzan to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent
to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Chrzan, Janet.
Alcohol: social drinking in cultural context / Janet Chrzan.
p. cm. — (The Routledge series for creative teaching and learning
in anthropology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Drinking of alcoholic beverages--History. 2. Alcoholic beverages--
Social aspects. I. Title.
HV5020.C46 2013
364.1’3--dc23 2012029043
ISBN: 978-0-415-89249-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-89250-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-07138-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by Cenveo Publisher Services
CONTENTS
Series Foreword viii
Preface x
Acknowledgments xii
1 Introduction: Why is Drinking Interesting? 1
2 Alcohol in the Ancient World 10
3 B arbarians and Beerpots: European Drinking
from the Celts to Victoria 28
4 A Short History of American Drinking 58
5 It’s Happy Hour! Modern American Drinking 81
6 Alcohol Advertising 106
7 Why Do Students Drink? 131
8 Conclusion: Why Do People Drink? 161
Bibliography 171
Index 186
SERIES FOREWORD
The premise of these short books on the anthropology of stuff is that stuff talks,
that written into the biographies of everyday items of our lives—coffee, T-shirts,
computers, iPods, fl owers, drugs, coffee, a nd so forth—are the stories that make
us who we are and that makes the world the way it is. From their beginnings,
each item bears the signature of the people who extracted, manufactured,
picked, caught, assembled, packaged, delivered, purchased and disposed of it.
And in our modern market-driven societies, our lives are dominated by the pur-
suit of stuff.
Examining stuff is also an excellent way to teach and learn about what is
exciting and insightful about anthropological and sociological ways of knowing.
Students, as with virtually all of us, can relate to stuff, while, at the same time,
discovering through these books that it can provide new and fascinating ways of
looking at the world.
Stuff, or commodities and things are central, of course, to all societies, to one
extent or another. Whether it is yams, necklaces, horses, cattle, or shells, the
acquisition, accumulation and exchange of things is central to the identities
and relationships that tie people together and drive their behavior. But never,
before now, has the craving for stuff reached the level it has; and never before
have so many people been trying to convince each other that acquiring more
stuff is what they most want to do. As a consequence, the creation, consump-
tion, and disposal of stuff now threatens the planet itself. Yet to stop or even
slow down the manufacture and accumulation of stuff would threaten the via-
bility of our economy, on which our society is built.
This raises various questions. For example, what impact does the compulsion
to acquire stuff have on our economic, social, and political well-being, as well as
on our environment? How do we come to believe that there are certain things
that we must have? How do we come to value some commodities or form of
commodities above others? How have we managed to create commodity chains
that link peasant farmers in Colombia or gold miners in Angola to wealthy resi-
dents of New York or teenagers in Nebraska? Who comes up with the ideas
for stuff and how do they translate those ideas into things for people to buy?
series foreword
ix
Why do we sometimes consume stuff that is not very good for us? These short
books examine such questions, and more.
Alcohol, of course, occupies a special place in the pantheon of stuff, particu-
larly for most college-age students who occupy the liminal space between prohi-
bition and legality. Yet, as Janet Chrzan beautifully illustrates in A lcohol: Social
Drinking in Cultural Context, alcohol enjoys a fascinating history from a way of
storing grain to a sacred liquid surrounded by rules and prohibitions. It is, as
she points out, the only dose-dependent drug, one which has always been made
safe by social conventions for use. Consequently she exposes the social struc-
tures of modern society, particularly those of student culture, that frame the
appropriate (and inappropriate) use of alcohol to allow people to act within
appropriate (and generally safe) boundaries.
This book explores social drinking in the Western world by examining how
people think about drinking and how that affects how they use alcohol. Chrzan
is quick to point out that the book is not about a need to regulate alcohol or a
treatise on the effects of alcohol on the body, or, for that matter, the problems
that alcohol can cause. Rather the book tells the story of how alcohol has been
and is thought about, and how these thoughts affect its use. It is, she notes, a
biocultural review of how cultures, including those of students, determine
proper alcohol intake.
Chrzan uses college student ethnographic reports of parties and other drink-
ing occasions to understand how young adults use alcohol and to counter the
public perception of college-age drinking as dangerous and out of control.
Instead, by examining its history and cultural range, along with its use by stu-
dents, Chrzan helps us understand alcohol use as a tool for social and psycho-
logical development. More importantly, the book provides students an
opportunity to rethink their culture-bound notions of drink, and to engage in
a process of placing their own beliefs and behaviors in a cultural and historical
perspective.
Richard Robbins, State University of New York, Plattsburgh
PREFACE
I really enjoy bars. I love the sounds of a bar – the clink of glasses, the murmur
of conversation, the occasional loud gusts of laughter, the thunk as a pint of
beer hits a table, the ice-rattling rhythm of a cocktail being shaken. Bars, pubs,
taverns, lounges, whatever the name – people gather in them to talk, to relax,
to make new friends and fi nd lovers. Bars enhance communities by providing a
place where people can gather informally, share news, make plans and create
new alliances. As an anthropologist, I know that one of the best ways to fi nd out
about a new community is to understand how people use bars. Are they respect-
able, welcome and open to all – a real community hub – or are they considered
dodgy places for the down and out and the morally suspect? Do they cater to
everyone by serving food and other drinks, or do they open only at night, to
serve a crowd mostly interested in intoxication? Are they segregated by age or
gender? And fi nally, what are the community norms for how to drink while in a
bar? Should patrons gulp quickly while standing, or sip quietly and long while
chatting with friends or playing chess or checkers? Are patrons welcoming to
strangers, or do they ignore them? Are drinkers expected to stay relatively sober,
or are they given license to become visibly drunk?
And, of course, a bar is not merely a gathering place but exists because it
serves alcohol, which is a legal intoxicant in most cultures. Bars are places where
people can become drunk, high, squishy, ‘faced’, pixilated, ‘effed-up’, etc. They
sell a substance that alters the consciousness of the user. Bars sell a drug.
Admittedly, it’s usually a legal drug, but it’s still a drug. Since intoxication alters
social interactions, the kinds of encounters that occur in bars are different than
everyday human sociality. Sometimes intoxication promotes good fellowship
and warm feelings, at other times it encourages anger and even violence.
Because of this tension social drinking remains a site of ambiguity in all cultures
that use alcohol. This book explores social drinking in the Western world by
examining how people think about drinking and how that affects how they use
alcohol. This is not a book about alcoholism or a treatise on the need for alco-
hol regulation, nor is it a scientifi c text about the effects of alcohol on the body
and mind. Nor does this volume celebrate alcohol through stories of wine
