Alcohol as a revolutionary weapon?

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alcohol has long been regarded as a social leveller, and the act of
communal drinking as a means of communication between those of different
ranks and status in society. If, as we propose above, the drinking-place
embodies the symbolic social functions of alcohol, we would therefore
expect to find, in most cultures, that drinking-places tend to perform a
socially integrative, equalising function. We would expect drinking-places
to be, if not strictly egalitarian, at least environments in which the
prevailing social order may be challenged.

This, throughout history and across cultures, is precisely what we do find.
In his study of plebeian culture in Shakespearean drama, Leinwand (1989)
notes that in the 15th century, alehouses, taverns and inns were:

" ... sites ... where people of disparate status mixed...[which] brought
men, high born and low, into relation, fostering a propinquity that might
secure, adjust or threaten hierarchies."

During the Prohibition years in America, the illicit 'nightclub culture'
involved a double defiance of prevailing social norms in the mingling of
"blacks and whites from all strata of society...in Harlem, Chicago and San
Francisco" (Herd, 1985). In contemporary Norway, Træen and Rossow (1994)
find that:

"In cafés, people come together for common purposes such as enjoyment,
irrespective of social rank ? and are expected to behave in accordance with
the accepted social and contextual norms of the establishment. For this
reason, people may perceive themselves as being more equal in cafés than
they do elsewhere."

In an observation study of Maori, Pacific Islander and European drinkers in
New Zealand bars, 40% of drinkers had drinking companions in their group
from other ethnic groups, which, as the authors comment, "suggests a rather
high degree of social integration among drinkers" (Graves et al, 1982). In
urban San Jose and Los Angeles, Chicanos, Mexican-Americans and Anglos mix
freely in bars, cocktail lounges and clubs, and suburban night-clubs, where
"dance partners are chosen across ethnic and racial lines" and "the mixing
of young people from a wide range of class and ethnic backgrounds also
results in...normative homogenisation"(Gilbert, 1985).

In Spain, drinking-places provide " ... an atmosphere of openness and
social access [in which] any adult male is free to participate in barroom
activity. Everyone in the tavern is free to speak to anyone else." (Rooney,
1991). Similarly, Gusfield (1987) comments that: "in the drinking arena
first names are required and organisational placements tabooed."

Social bonding

These integrative qualities, along with its role as a special, liminal
environment, contribute to the key function of the drinking-place as a
facilitator of social bonding. This function is so clearly evident that
even in ambivalent drinking cultures, where research tends to be
problem-centred and overwhelmingly concerned with quantitative aspects of
consumption, those conducting research on public drinking-places have been
obliged to "focus on sociability, rather than the serving of beverage
alcohol, as the main social fact to be examined" (Campbell, 1991).

The facilitation of social interaction and social bonding is, as noted
elsewhere in this review, one of the main functions of drinking itself -
the perception of the "value of alcohol for promoting relaxation and
sociability" being one of the most significant generalisations to emerge
from the cross-cultural study of drinking (Heath, 1987, 1995). It is not
surprising therefore, that the drinking-place should be, in many cultures,
an institution dedicated to sociability and convivial interaction.

The special features of a dedicated drinking-place - the layout, the decor,
the music, the games, the etiquette and ritual practices, and, of course,
the drinking - are all designed to promote positive social interaction,
reciprocity and sharing (Gusfield, 1987; Rooney, 1991; Gamella, 1995; Park,
1995; Fox, 1996, etc.). In Austrian lokals, for example, Thornton (1987)
observes that:

" ... intimate social groups...come into being there, even if only to last
the night. Benches surround the tables, forcing physical intimacy between
customers. Small groups of twos or threes who find themselves at the same
or adjoining tables often make friends with their neighbours and share
wine, schnapps, jokes and game-playing the rest of the evening."

In almost all drinking-places, in almost all cultures, the unwritten laws
and customs involve some form of reciprocal drink-buying or sharing of
drinks. This practice has been documented in drinking-places from modern,
urban Japan and America and rural Spain and France to remote traditional
societies in Africa and South America. (Doughty, 1971; Graves et al, 1982;
Gilbert, 1982; Gordon, 1985; Westermeyer, 1985; Gusfield, 1987; Thornton,
1987; Ngokwey, 1987; Rooney, 1991; Hendry, 1994, etc.) The central role of
exchange and reciprocal giving in the establishment and reaffirmation of
social bonds has long been recognised by anthropologists, sociologists and
even zoologists, so fundamental is this practice to the survival of any
social species.

The combination of these factors, the special alchemy of design, ritual and
alcohol that characterises the drinking-place and sets it apart from other
public institutions and social environments, ensures that, in many
cultures, the drinking-place is at the centre of community life. In Poland,
for example, the Karczma is where contracts are sealed, village disputes
settled, celebrations held and marriages arranged (Freund, 1985), while for
Guatemalans in the US, the bar is a meeting-place where "one may seek out
others, develop friendships, and if needed, find temporary assistance in a
loan or lodging or obtain information about jobs." (Gordon, 1985). In New
Zealand, Graves et al (1982) observe that:

" ... the pub is probably the most important working-man's club. Men from
all ethnic groups come there to be with their friends; their alcohol
consumption is a by-product of this socialising. This does not mean that
the consumption of alcohol is an unimportant part of pub activity.
Otherwise a man might as well meet his friends in an ice-cream parlour or
coffee shop. One of the major functions of moderate alcohol use is to
promote social conviviality. But it is the conviviality, not the alcohol,
which is of central importance."

The striking degree of functional similarity between drinking-places,
across such a wide variety of very different cultures, cannot be
disregarded. Despite significant differences - and indeed diametric
oppositions - in cultural perceptions of alcohol, the ethnographic evidence
suggests that the drinking-place meets some deep-seated, universal human
needs.

Full article at: http://www.sirc.org/publik/drinking6.html


Louis Proyect
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