Crowded Contexts: On the Affective Dynamics of Alcohol and other Drug Use in Nightlife Spaces

Abstract

The primary aim of this article is to contribute to ongoing debates regarding the role of context in relation to the use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD). I argue that the concepts of imitation, suggestion and crowds, which will be extracted from the writings of Gabriel Tarde (and more recent scholars reinventing his work), enable a rethinking of the questions of subjectivity, agency and context of AOD use that chimes well with recent posthumanist work in the field. By taking into account the emotional, bodily and spatial dimensions of AOD use contexts, the approach I will describe in this article adds a renewed sensitivity to the affective dynamics of crowded nightclub spaces. In the analytical part of the article, drawing on qualitative data from a case study of an electronic music venue in Copenhagen, I examine how alcohol and drug practices and experiences are affectively modulated by masses of people in spaces.