Abstract
Recent work in this discipline and allied fields has helped to elucidate the significance of alcohol and other drugs (Duff, Soc Cult Geogr 13(2):145–159, 2012; Moreno and Wilton, Using space: critical geographies of drugs and alcohol, Routledge, New York, 2014; Proudfoot, Geogr Compass 11(7):1–11, 2017) for social, political, economic, and health geographies. In this chapter, I consider how the pandemic has accelerated the spatial reconfiguration of alcohol consumption towards the home. I then show how reactions to this trend reflect long-standing tensions around the pleasures and dangers of drinking. On the one hand, the pleasures of home drinking are seen as a necessary antidote to the stresses and strains of the pandemic. On the other, more home drinking raises the prospect of greater health and social harms in spaces that are often hidden from public scrutiny. I conclude with reflections on the long-term effects of these changes.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
I recognize that this is a necessarily partial account that is grounded in my knowledge of the English language social science literature on alcohol consumption and regulation and recent developments in countries of the Global North.
- 2.
References
Bøhling, F. (2015). Alcoholic assemblages: Exploring fluid subjects in the night-time economy. Geoforum, 58, 132–142.
Flanagan, R. (2020, April 16). ‘Stay sober’: WHO’s advice as Canadians drink their way through the pandemic. CTV News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/stay-sober-who-s-advice-as-canadians-drink-their-way-through-the-pandemic-1.4898528
Foster, J. (2010). Why do people drink at home? Journal of Public Health, 32(4), 512–518.
Foster, J., & Ferguson, C. (2012). Home drinking in the UK: Trends and causes. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47(3), 355–358.
Goldfarb, A. (2020, March 20). How to Have a Successful Virtual Happy Hour. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/well/virus-virtual-happy-hour.html
Graham-Harrison, E. (2020, March 28). Lockdowns around the world bring rise in domestic violence. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/28/lockdowns-world-rise-domestic-violence
Grierson, J. (2020, June 2). Half of British drinkers starting earlier in the day during Covid-19 crisis. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/02/half-of-british-drinkers-starting-earlier-in-the-day-during-covid-19-crisis
Holloway, S., Jayne, M., & Valentine, G. (2008). English alcohol policy, domestic drinking practices and the meaning of home. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 33(4), 532–547.
Holmes, J., Guo, Y., & Maheswaran, R. (2014). The impact of spatial and temporal availability of alcohol on its consumption and related harms. Drug and Alcohol Review, 33(5), 515–525.
Hubbard, L. (2020, March 23). Ten “Quarantinis” to drink while social distancing. Town & Country. Retrieved from https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/g31900654/quarantini-cocktail-recipes/
Jayne, M., Valentine, G., & Holloway, S. L. (2016). Geographical perspectives on drug and alcohol studies. In T. Kolind, B. Thom, & G. Hunt (Eds.), SAGE handbook of drug & alcohol studies: Social science approaches (pp. 1–13). London: Sage.
Jernigan, D. (2020, April 8). America is drinking its way through the coronavirus. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/america-is-drinking-its-way-through-the-coronavirus-crisis-that-means-more-health-woes-ahead-135532
Lawhon, M. (2013). Flows, friction and the sociomaterial metabolization of alcohol. Antipode, 45(3), 681–701.
Measham, F., & Østergaard, J. (2009). British and Danish young women, recent trends in alcohol consumption and the European binge drinking debate. Probation Journal, 56(4), 415–434.
Paradis, C. (2020). Open versus closed: The risks associated with retail liquor stores during COVID-19. Ottawa: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse & Addiction.
Proudfoot, J. (2017). Drugs, addiction, and the social bond. Geography Compass, 11(7), 1–11.
Silver, K. (2020, April 16). Virtual wine tastings bring some sparkle to the self-quarantined. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/virtual-wine-tastings-bring-some-sparkle-to-the-self-quarantined/2020/04/16/af373560-7da6-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.html
Thurnell-Read, T. (2016). Identity, friendship and sociality. In T. Kolind, B. Thom, & G. Hunt (Eds.), SAGE handbook of drug & alcohol studies: Social science approaches (pp. 337–351). London: Sage.
Tsekouras, P. (2020, March 23). LCBO, beer store, cannabis retailers to remain open amid closure of all non-essential businesses. CTV News. Retrieved from https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/lcbo-beer-store-cannabis-retailers-to-remain-open-amid-closure-of-all-non-essential-businesses-1.4864781.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Alcohol and COVID-19: What you need to know. Retrieved from https://www.euro.who.int/data/assets/pdf_file/0010/437608/Alcohol-and-COVID-19-what-you-need-to-know.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilton, R. (2021). Geographies of (Domestic) Alcohol Consumption. In: Andrews, G.J., Crooks, V.A., Pearce, J.R., Messina, J.P. (eds) COVID-19 and Similar Futures. Global Perspectives on Health Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70179-6_51
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70179-6_51
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70178-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70179-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)