Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts

Facing the Dragon - Exploring a conscious phenomenology of intoxication

Thesis Abstract by Flore Singer Aaslid from Date Submitted: Jan 17, 2007, 13:31 social anthropology, PhD program, Norwegian University of Science and Technology , 2003-2007

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Dissertation Keywords: intoxication, phenomenology, conscious, user trajectories, drugs, user perspectives

This Thesis Abstract | Dissertation Abstract may be cited as follows:
Aaslid, F (2007): "Facing the Dragon- Exploring a conscious phenomenology of intoxication." Department of Social Anthropology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Thesis Abstract or Dissertation Abstract (Summary):
Ethnography has long had a tradition of attempting to understand and represent, the “natives point of view”. That there are different ways of being in the world, corresponding to a wide variety of reality constructions for fluctuating moments in time and space is perhaps one insight that has arisen out of this approach. A recurring tendency within the drug field is for professional models to reflect a hegemonic health model with a highly essentialist view of illicit substances which often reduces drug users into passive victims of their vice. This type of categorization both de-contextualises behavioural patterns and has an overall dehumanising effect in terms of denying the user any kind of independent agency, while simultaneously diverting attention away from larger social forces which may influence drug taking trends. This presentation will investigate some of the more challenging and also fruitful aspects of applying this approach towards gaining a deeper understanding of the different realties facing recreational drug users in Trondheim, Norway.
The “dragon” refers to the terra incognita or “inner terrain” within us which is explored through the self-biographical narratives of recreational drug users. Perhaps because intoxication and illicit drug use is such a potentially dangerous field of inquiry, many professionals choose to approach it by employing mostly quantitative and largely disengaged scientific methodologies that minimize investigator involvement and subjectivity, while maximizing separation and objectivity. By exploring a “conscious phenomenology of intoxication” the present study proposes an alternative to the positivist paradigm currently dominating drug research. Conscious in that it seeks to include and expand on the concept of intentionality when exploring user trajectories as perceived by the users themselves and among themselves and phenomenology in the sense that this focus also takes into account how these intentionalities are expressed through dynamic human experience. The concept of “gates” is used to reflect different cycles in user narratives based on Ken Wilber’s concept of “fulcrums” - a dynamic cycle of opposites in motion resulting in four main phases of disidentification, identification, disintegration and transcendence, and Joseph Campbell’s mythical journey. Then, by contextualizing the discussion historically and placing it within a contemporary framework, it examines how certain widespread contemporary trends are influential in terms of serving as a meta-template specifically related to the postmodern identity project and consumerism that in many ways epitomize our present epoch.

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