Young People, Alcohol, and Urban Life

Abstract

Alcohol consumption, and particularly young people and drinking, have, for a long time, been the focus of popular, policy, and academic work. This article will introduce the reader to dominant themes and areas of interest from international and interdisciplinary scholarship regarding young people, alcohol, and urban life. This bibliography begins by detailing texts that provide General Overviews of young people, alcohol, and urban life. It then lists and discusses useful Reference Works, Books, and Journals. The paper then moves on to discuss sources thematically, beginning with Young People, Alcohol, and Gender. This is important because, while drinking is typically thought to be male dominated, young women’s alcohol consumption has increased in recent years. The article then moves on to explore Spaces of Drinking. Academic work on alcohol consumption has tended to be concerned with inner-city drinking, typified by a large body of work on the nighttime economy. This paper introduces literature that provides insight into the diversity of indoor and outdoor drinking spaces, including homes, pubs, streets, and parks. Moreover, recent years have seen an interest in moving beyond drinking spaces as static and bounded, to appreciate the importance of young people’s movement in, through, and beyond drinking spaces; this is the focus of the next section on Young People’s Alcohol-Related Urban Im/Mobilities. Finally, recognizing that friendships, and relationships with siblings and parents, can influence alcohol consumption practices and experiences, the paper concludes with a consideration of Relational Drinking Practices.