Don’t Think, Just Drink!’: An Ethnographic Study into why Young People Engage with Alcohol-Fuelled Leisure Markets of the Night-Time Economy

Abstract

Consumption and consumerism are now accepted as being fundamental contexts for the construction of youth lifestyle in post-modern society. This research is a critical exploration of why young people consume alcohol in a manner that can go beyond ‘pleasure’, to the painful realms of jouissance. This research draws on various disciplines utilising a deviant leisure perspective in order to explore the broader harms that lie beneath the surface of commodified leisure, which have become culturally acceptable and normalised in today’s society. Through the use of ethnographic research, utilising observations and unstructured interviews, this project critically explores the significance of alcohol-fuelled leisure markets for youthful consumers aged 18 to 25 of the NTE in the South-West of England. Analysis of the data opens up a focus into the subjective and socially corrosive harms that are embedded in today’s society as a result of the commodification of leisure. The study concludes that the pursuit of intoxication and commitment to the night-time economy is an endeavour that is reflective of the harms and anxieties of contemporary times.