Control and desire: The issue of identity in popular discourses of addiction

Abstract

In this article, popular discourses of addiction are investigated. The development of these discourses since the concept of ‘addiction’ was developed a century ago is linked to changing conceptions of self-identity. A multiplicity of discourses of addiction is identified, and it is suggested that it is possible to see some popular discourses as subverting expert conceptions of addiction. Developing the work of Davies ((). The myth of addiction: An application of the psychological theory of attribution to illicit drug use. Victoria, Australia: Harwood Academic Publishers; (1997). Drugspeak: The analysis of drug discourse. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers), Keane ((). What's wrong with addiction? Victoria: Melbourne University Press) and Valverde ((). Diseases of the will: Alcohol and the dilemmas of freedom. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press), it is argued that the role played by these popular discourses deserves further investigation. While addiction is popularly conceived as a constraint on self-motivated actions, it is argued that discourse theory could be useful in helping us to re-conceptualize the relationship between addiction and agency in addicts’ own accounts.