The Social Value of Drug Addicts
Uses of the Useless
Published on 16. June 2016
248 pages
978-1-315-41716-5 (ISBN)
Description
Drug users are typically portrayed as worthless slackers, burdens on society, and just plain useless-culturally, morally, and economically. By contrast, this book argues that the social construction of some people as useless is in fact extremely useful to other people. Leading medical anthropologists Merrill Singer and J. Bryan Page analyze media representations, drug policy, and underlying social structures to show what industries and social sectors benefit from the criminalization, demonization, and even popular glamorization of addicts. Synthesizing a broad range of key literature and advancing innovative arguments about the social construction of drug users and their role in contemporary society, this book is an important contribution to public health, medical anthropology, popular culture, and related fields.
Reviews / Votes
"In The Social Value of Drug Addicts: Uses of the Useless, Merrill Singer and J. Bryan Page provide a sweeping analysis of popular representations of drug use and drug users in U.S. culture...In making such an offering, Merrill Singer and J. Bryan Page continue to cement their legacy as scholars who have tried to talk sense to us about our society's most harmful habits of social distinction."- Jennifer J. Carroll, American AnthropologistMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
illustrations
File size
3,43 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-315-41716-5 (9781315417165)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2013
1st Edition
Left Coast Press Inc
€54.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Book
11/2013
1st Edition
Left Coast Press Inc
€260.40
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
Merrill Singer, J Bryan Page
Content
Introduction; Chapter One Drugs, Race, and Gender in the Social Construction of Drug Consumers; Chapter Two Drug Users through the Ages; Chapter Three Representations of Addicts and the Construction of Prohibitions; Chapter Four Imagine That: Drug Users and Literature; Chapter Five Picture This; Chapter Six The Legal Construction of Drug Users; Chapter Seven Drug Users in Social Science; Conclusion;
