Drug Problematizations and Politics

Abstract

This article puts in question the usefulness of the concept of “problem” or “problems” in alcohol and drug research and theory. A focus on problematizations is defended as a more effective political intervention. Particular attention is directed to the place of problematization as a mediating concept in understanding how practices constitute “objects” and “subjects,” a proposition commonly linked to “the ontological turn.” To access and analyze problematizations, the article puts forward a Foucault-influenced poststructural analytic strategy called “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR approach). Previously applied to the policy field, this article illustrates the usefulness of the WPR approach to interrogate the full range of governmental and knowledge practices. Examples of application of WPR from the alcohol and other drug field are highlighted throughout. The article extends this work by directing particular attention to the forms of politics facilitated through such an analytic strategy and to the importance of applying this form of questioning to one’s own propositions and policy proposals.