Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne
In recent years, the concept of ‘calculated hedonism’ has dominated sociological understandings of young people’s drinking practices. However, while contributing some important insights, this conceptualisation has not sufficiently considered the affective and embodied aspects of alcohol consumption....
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Sage Publications
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58884 |
| _version_ | 1848760367083159552 |
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| author | Murphy, Dean Wilson, James Moore, David |
| author_facet | Murphy, Dean Wilson, James Moore, David |
| author_sort | Murphy, Dean |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In recent years, the concept of ‘calculated hedonism’ has dominated sociological understandings of young people’s drinking practices. However, while contributing some important insights, this conceptualisation has not sufficiently considered the affective and embodied aspects of alcohol consumption. Our analysis explores the meanings and understandings of alcohol consumption among male participants in an 18-month study of young adults living in inner-city Melbourne. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and participant observation during drinking events. We draw on Roger Caillois’ notion of ‘play’ to analyse sessional drinking among these men. The four categories of play identified by Callois – competition, chance, simulation and vertigo – were all present in the accounts of these men’s drinking practices. This analysis offers a way of conceptualising men’s alcohol consumption in more nuanced ways that acknowledge the affective and embodied aspects of drinking as part of pleasure-seeking. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:14:39Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-58884 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:14:39Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Sage Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-588842018-02-09T04:01:40Z Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne Murphy, Dean Wilson, James Moore, David In recent years, the concept of ‘calculated hedonism’ has dominated sociological understandings of young people’s drinking practices. However, while contributing some important insights, this conceptualisation has not sufficiently considered the affective and embodied aspects of alcohol consumption. Our analysis explores the meanings and understandings of alcohol consumption among male participants in an 18-month study of young adults living in inner-city Melbourne. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and participant observation during drinking events. We draw on Roger Caillois’ notion of ‘play’ to analyse sessional drinking among these men. The four categories of play identified by Callois – competition, chance, simulation and vertigo – were all present in the accounts of these men’s drinking practices. This analysis offers a way of conceptualising men’s alcohol consumption in more nuanced ways that acknowledge the affective and embodied aspects of drinking as part of pleasure-seeking. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58884 10.1177/1440783316654223 Sage Publications fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Murphy, Dean Wilson, James Moore, David Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title | Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title_full | Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title_fullStr | Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title_full_unstemmed | Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title_short | Playing hard: Young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city Melbourne |
| title_sort | playing hard: young men’s experiences of drinking in inner-city melbourne |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58884 |