Premium
The relevance of ethnographic understanding to Aboriginal anti‐grog initiatives
Author(s) -
ROWSE TIM
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1080/09595239300185491
Subject(s) - ethnography , relevance (law) , politics , citizenship , sociology , individualism , corporate governance , social psychology , gender studies , political science , psychology , anthropology , law , management , economics
Aboriginal initiatives to “beat the grog” may or may not draw on ethnographies of Aboriginal drinking behaviour. The deeper reason for this uncertainty has to do with fundamental ideas of citizenship and (self) governance. What is the relevance of “culture” to individual responsibility? This paper reviews this question at three levels; the political debate about “rights” and “responsibility”, ethnographic depictions of Aborigines as both group‐dominated and individualistic, and through one Aboriginal organization's embracing of the perspectives of Alcoholic's Anonymous.