bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Control, culture and identity. Nordic temperance movements from urban and rural perspectives
Authors: Johansson Lennart 
Published: January 2018

This article analyses the tensions between town and countryside through the development of the temperance idea in the Nordic countries. During the period 1880 to 1930, the prime foothold of the Nordic temperance movement was changed: it developed from an urban to a predominantly rural movement. This change is visible not least in the Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish referendums concerning prohibition, where the countryside is markedly more pro-prohibition than the towns. The relocation from town to countryside is not only geographical, but it also contains an ideological shift within the temperance movement. Started in towns, the movement was working classes' direct answer to the growing public drunkenness and an instrument used by the upwardly striving middle-class to discipline workers. Later, when the temperance movement shifts its centre of gravity to the countryside, it becomes a broad, cultural and conservative movement. During the early 20th century, the temperance question was an important symbolic question and functioned as a social, political and cultural marker and thus mobilised a number of social groups. The conclusion is that one should not talk about one single movement or one temperance ideology. The common denominator was that the temperance question served as a symbol and mark of identity, as a manifestation of the border between us and them.
A scale of formal alcohol control policy in 15 European countries
Authors: Karlsson Thomas , Österberg Esa 
Published: January 2018

Thomas Karlsson & Esa Österberg: A scale of formal alcohol control policy in 15 European countries As part of the alcohol control policy analysis of the ECAS project, this article reviews and discusses previous attempts to measure the strictness of alcohol control policies and to conduct a similar analysis in the ECAS countries. Based on the knowledge gathered from previous studies, we have created a scale of our own to measure the strictness of alcohol control policies and have applied it to the countries included in the ECAS project. The scales reviewed in this article and the scale we have constructed only measure the strictness of formal alcohol control. Drawing on the results of the ECAS scale, it seems that formal alcohol control in the EU member states has become stricter during the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1950s only three of the 15 countries were classified as having “high alcohol control”. In the year 2000 the number of high alcohol control countries had increased to six. The number of countries with low alcohol control had decreased from nine to zero between 1950 and 2000. Comparing the scores in the different countries or the average scores in all the ECAS countries over time is, however, problematic because the changes in these numbers reflect two different trends. On the one hand, there has been a decrease in the control of production and sales of alcoholic beverages or the regulation on alcohol availability. On the other hand, alcohol control measures targeted at demand or alcohol-related problems have become more prevalent. This means that alcohol control policies have become more similar in the ECAS countries in the second half of the twentieth century. Because of the limitations of the scale, however, we have to make certain reservations about the results and be very careful not to draw too far-reaching conclusions based solely on the results and rankings on the ECAS scale or any other scale for that matter. The scale and the results should therefore be considered as yet another attempt to quantify and rank alcohol control policies according to their strictness and not as an attempt to provide a perfect solution to a mission impossible.
Alcohol sales figures in 15 European countries: corrected for consumption abroad and tax-free purchases
Authors: Trolldal Björn 
Published: January 2018

Björn Trolldal: Alcohol sales figures in 15 European countries: corrected for consumption abroad and tax-free purchases The official sales statistics in a country do not, for various reasons, represent the actual consumption of alcoholic beverages among the inhabitants. In this study, the official sales statistics in 15 European countries are corrected for the inhabitants' consumption during journeys abroad, foreign tourists' consumption within each country, and for the purchases of tax-free alcohol. The consumption by inhabitants of the ECAS area during journeys abroad was equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the total official sales in this area in 1995. The correction for the net consumption during journeys abroad in 1995 varies between a decrease by 2.5 per cent and an increase by 3.6 per cent of the official sales in the study countries. The tax-free purchases corresponded to just over 1 per cent of the total sales of alcoholic beverages within the European Union in 1995, but they are concentrated in the “high-price” countries, that is, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and the UK. The tax-free purchases vary between 0.3 per cent of the official sales, as in France, and 8 per cent in Finland. The changes in alcohol sales after the total correction vary between a decrease by 1.5 per cent and an increase by 11.4 per cent in the study countries. When consumption during journeys abroad and tax-free purchases are taken into account, the differences between consumption levels, in terms of alcohol sales figures, in the ECAS countries diminish.
Changes in living conditions and their links to alcohol consumption and drinking patterns in 16 European countries, 1950 to 2000
Authors: Karlsson Thomas , Simpura Jussi 
Published: January 2018

Thomas Karlsson & Jussi Simpura: Changes in living conditions and their links to alcohol consumption and drinking patterns in 16 European countries, 1950 to 2000 The aim of this article, as part of the drinking pattern analysis of the ECAS project, is to examine how changes in living conditions have affected the formation and dynamics of European drinking habits in 1950–2000. The development of living conditions in post-World War II Europe shows that the same trends have emerged in all the current EU member states. Some of the most important changes we recognize include increasing urbanization and the emergence of the service sector. While we can distinguish similar patterns in the development of living conditions in the EU member states, this is not the case in the development of alcohol consumption. Overall alcohol consumption in the wine countries has been decreasing, while the consumption levels have been on the rise in the beer and former spirits countries. The changes in living conditions – which we can see as a part of the modernization process – have produced almost opposite results in different countries and at different times. This also applies to the development of drinking habits and alcohol consumption in the EU member states during the latter part of the 20th century.
Estimations of unrecorded alcohol consumption levels and trends in 14 European countries
Authors: Leifman Håkan 
Published: January 2018

Håkan Leifman: Estimations of unrecorded alcohol consumption levels and trends in 14 European countries Aims: To map the extent of unrecorded alcohol consumption in the countries within the EU, including point estimates of the quantity of unrecorded consumption and the development over time. Data and method: The countries under investigation are 13 EU countries (Greece and Luxembourg excluded) and Norway. The study makes use of data collected earlier – mainly survey data – and of a recently completed general population survey directed to random samples of the general population aged 18–64 in six EU member states. An indirect method was used to assess the development of unrecorded consumption over time in each country by estimating the discrepancy between the observed development of alcohol-related mortality and the development that would be expected from changes in recorded consumption only. Findings: The unrecorded consumption is highest in the northern European countries, and has increased from about 1 litre in the 1980s to 2 litres per adult in the second half of the 1990s. The UK, too, shows clear signs of increased unrecorded alcohol consumption as of the mid-1980s. In the remaining countries, the changes in unrecorded alcohol appear to have been more modest over time. The quantities of unrecorded consumption in the Mediterranean countries in the 1990s are roughly estimated at 1 litre pure alcohol per adult and show no signs of increases over time. The general population survey indicated low quantities of personal imports of alcohol in Southern Europe (France and Italy) – one decilitre in France, less than half a decilitre in Italy – compared to about 1 litre or more in Finland, Sweden and the UK. Conclusions: The downward trend in recorded consumption in the Mediterranean countries for the past 20–30 years is most likely a real decrease in alcohol consumption: the large drop in recorded alcohol consumption in these countries has not been accompanied by increases in unrecorded consumption. When the total consumption (recorded plus unrecorded) is taken into account, and not just the recorded alcohol, the higher unrecorded consumption in the “low-consuming” countries would appear slightly to narrow down the differences between the countries. However, despite differences in unrecorded alcohol, the relative position between the countries in their total consumption in the mid-1990s remains to a large extent unchanged.
Homogenisation in alcohol consumption in the European Union
Authors: Leifman Håkan 
Published: January 2018

Håkan Leifman: Homogenisation in alcohol consumption in the European Union This article examines the trends in aggregate alcohol consumption in 15 European countries (14 European Union or EU member states and Norway) from 1950 to 1995. One of the aims is to outline the general trends in total consumption and beverage preferences, focusing on the dispersion over time between all the countries involved, another to look more closely behind these trends and to analyse the development for different groups of countries. Evidence points to a clear homogenisation for the whole study period in qualitative terms, that is, in beverage preferences. In terms of quantity, the homogenisation of the last 15–20 years is less distinct and can be explained mainly by a drastic reduction in wine consumption in the Mediterranean wine-drinking countries. As to the remaining countries (beer and former spirits-drinking countries), there has not been any quantitative homogenisation from the mid-1970s onwards. The results are discussed in the light of the on-going globalisation of economy, politics and culture, not least between the EU member states.
Trends in drinking patterns among adult population in 15 European countries, 1950 to 2000: a review
Authors: Simpura Jussi , Karlsson Thomas 
Published: January 2018

Jussi Simpura & Thomas Karlsson: Trends in drinking patterns among adult population in 15 European countries, 1950 to 2000: a review Under the auspices of the European Comparative Alcohol Study (ECAS), data was compiled on trends in drinking patterns from 15 European countries (EU member countries, Luxembourg excluded, and Norway) from 1950 to 2000. This review is based on existing survey data on adult population. It turned out that (a) only a few countries (Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) have data on drinking patterns in the 1950s and 1960s, but (b) an increasing number of countries have drinking habit surveys from the 1970s and 1980s onwards (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) and (c) in the 1990s, almost all EU member countries have conducted surveys with data on drinking patterns (France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, while Belgium remains the only country with very little data available). The data is, however, too scarce to say anything very certain about trends and the possible homogenisation of drinking patterns. Six indicators were studied in more detail. Abstinence rates fell in the 1960s in the traditionally abstinent Northern European countries, and later among women in the Mediterranean countries. Women's share of drinking also increased in the Northern European countries in the 1970s, but not necessarily elsewhere. With decreasing alcohol consumption in the Mediterranean countries, this means that per capita alcohol consumption among women may well have decreased, too. With a few exceptions, 30 to 50-year-olds were the age group with the highest alcohol consumption. The age distribution showed no general trends. Data on the shape of the population distribution of alcohol consumption was scarce, except for a few countries where the shape did not suggest any systematic changes. Also, data on binge drinking (high intake per single occasion) was mostly scarce, and again, the findings from the few countries with sufficient data showed remarkable stability. Remarkably slow changes were also evident in specific drinking contexts. There may be some signs of slow homogenisation of drinking patterns between the 15 European countries, but the differences are still notable. The main conclusion is that changes in drinking patterns are slow, even amidst rapidly changing living conditions. The natural time scale for such changes is not a few years or even a decade, but a generation.
Article
Authors: Guðmundsson Gestur 
Published: January 2018

Gestur Guðmundsson: Wrestling with the devil. The social meaning of drugs and drug policy in Iceland During the 1990s Iceland has seen both an increased use of illegal substances and an intensified war against drugs. The accent in this war is on preventive measures implemented in a joint effort by the authorities and various voluntary organizations. Drawing on materials from interviews, public debate and historical research, the article discusses the social meaning of drugs in late modern Iceland in relation to world-views rooted in religion and premodern society. Secularization and the weakened position of the Church conceal the fact that drugs have largely replaced alcohol (which replaced sexuality, which replaced the witches and their pre-Lutheran world-views) as the representative of Evil and Sin. However, in Iceland there is a strong tradition which views “Wrestling with the Devil” as an intrinsic part of the transition to adulthood. The ongoing war against drugs may consolidate their evil role and thus also experimenting with drugs as a part of growing up. The dominant scientific contributions are criticized for failing to reflect upon these ambiguities and the deeper meaning of drugs and alcohol, thus reproducing problematic labelling and even contributing to modern witch-hunting.
Article
Authors: Törnqvist Claes 
Published: January 2018

Claes Törnqvist: Drinking on weekdays. Threat, illusion and possibility Drawing on an analysis of 42 narrative interviews on the meaning of alcohol to young people during weekdays, the article describes the social strategies of three groups of 20-year-old youths: working youths, students and bohemian ‘black people’. For the gainfully employed drinking on weekdays is considered as a threat to their self-ideal of being conscientious. At the same time, drinking during weekends is seen as a sign of conscientiousness. Students live with the illusion that they are independent and can drink on weekdays if they want to. In reality, however, they do not but lead a rather ascetic way of life. This is the strategy they apply to reach their self-ideal of social success. As for those youths who have a bohemian life-style, drinking on weekdays is thought to offer an opportunity for self-realization. They meet at restaurants every night, drink beer and chat. The atmosphere thus created is necessary for them to believe in themselves as artists and musicians. This way of drinking helps in the transformation from misery to sovereignity, which is their self-ideal.
Article
Authors: Lalander Philip 
Published: January 2018

Philip Lalander: Productivism, hedonism and acting. Drinking patterns and identity formation in contemporary youth cultures Based on ethnographic studies of different youth groups, the article introduces three characters which relate to society, to themselves and to alcohol in different ways. The first character is “the modern conscientious “conformist”, who believes firmly in leading a conscientious way of life in which wage labour plays an important part and in which drinking is marginalized vis-à-vis the world of work. The second character is “the rebellious hedonist”. This character is highly sceptical of society's demands for conformity and conscientiousness. The third character, “the postmodern expert of style” exhibits strong individual self-control. This self-control is based on fears of appearing to others as a conformist. It is therefore difficult to adopt the same drinking patterns as other people, and drinking consequently becomes a way of establishing feelings of individuality.
Article
Authors: Tigerstedt Christoffer 
Published: January 2018

Christoffer Tigerstedt: There is no alcohol policy anymore … Extensive changes in Finnish alcohol legislation in the 1990s have altered the framework for policy-making. Macropolitics, based on regulation of physical and economic availability, is challenged by various community and communicating approaches, focusing on the capacities of the consumer. However, the new governing rationale is not a baby of the 1990s, but can be traced back to the appearance of the new public health movement (NPH) in the 1960s and 1970s. The NPH was a reaction against individually oriented health policy. Social and environmental aspects were emphasised. Illness and bad health were reconceptualised into risks operating on a community or population level. On the one hand individuals were abstract parts of large aggregates, on the other hand their ability and responsibility to control their own lives was stressed. The focus on the rights of the consumer makes it possible to regard the NPH as a liberal rationality of rule. Although “Alcohol control policies in public health perspective” (Bruun et al. 1975) was not a liberal manifest, it introduced a new risk approach that ideologically and politically was likely to liberate individual consumers from (stigmatising) public control. This paradox is found in several writings by Kettil Bruun, who maintained both restrictive and liberal ideas with regard to alcohol control. A crucial distinction, used by Bruun, was that between measures directed at whole populations (universalism) and measures directed at individuals (individualism). This distinction loses some of its power when alcohol issues have become normalised, alcohol consumers are expected to conduct self-control, and restrictions on physical and economic control are weakened. New modes of control are developed, engaging individual consumers in community-based policy strategies.
Article
Authors: Alavaikko Mika , Österberg Esa 
Published: January 2018

Mika Alavaikko & Esa Österberg: Increased power of alcohol-related industries in Finland in the 1990s From 1932 to 1995, the Finnish alcohol control system was based on the State Alcohol Monopoly. The purpose of the monopoly was to prevent profit-making from the production and sales of alcoholic beverages; however, exceptions were made from the very beginning regarding beer and wine production and on-premises retail licences of alcoholic beverages. Consequently, the private profit-seeking sector played a part in the formation of Finnish alcohol policy right after the prohibition era. This article does not discuss the whole post-prohibition period; it focuses on more recent trends, concentrating on the interests and alcohol policy measures of alcohol industries in Finland in the 1990s. It examines alcohol-related industries, their alcohol policy interests and the persons supervising those interests at the outset of the 1990s, before Finland signed the treaty of the European Economic Area and joined the European Union. The article also presents an analysis of the efforts of people representing alcohol business interests in the parliamentary discussion of the 1994 Alcohol Act. Finally, the article deals with alcohol industries and their alcohol policy interests during the time the 1994 Alcohol Act has been in force. We started with the hypothesis that the influence of alcohol-related business interests over alcohol policy has strengthened in Finland in the 1990s. The materials also lend support to this assumption. Private traders in the alcohol industry have not, however, increased their sway over alcohol policy in a straightforward way in the 1990s. The parliamentary proceedings on the 1994 Alcohol Act gave private economic interests an opportunity to influence the shape of the future area of operations, and in 1994 business interests succeeded in pushing through many proposals. Since then, their influence over alcohol policy seems to have weakened.
Familieinteraktion og symptomer på psykiske belastninger hos alkoholikere og ægtefæller til alkoholikere*
Authors: Christensen Helene Bygholm 
Published: January 2018

Helene Bygholm Christensen: Family interaction and symptoms of psychological distress among alcoholics and spouses This article focuses on the relationship between alcoholism, dysfunctional family interaction and symptoms of psychological distress among alcoholics and spouses. In a Danish sample of 58 alcoholics and 23 spouses, measures of psychological distress showed that both alcoholics and spouses were psychologically impaired (Brief Symptom Inventory). We found no significant differences between the two groups, indicating that being a spouse of an alcoholic is connected to the same amount of psychological distress as being alcoholic. Family interaction in this group of alcoholic families is characterized by being rigid and control oriented, with unclear communication and an atmosphere of depressiveness, hostility and anxiety (measured with Self-Report Family Inventory). Measures of family interaction and symptoms of psychological distress were mostly unrelated to measures of socioeconomic status and drinking pattern. We found strong correlations between all dimensions of family interaction and alcoholics' symptoms of psychological distress. Contrary to this, spouses' symptoms of psychological distress were almost only related to the level of conflict in the family. The results of this study emphasize the necessity of bringing considerations of comorbidity and family interaction into the treatment of alcoholics.