Alcohol Studies in India: Making case for Space

Abstract

The paper aims to review the literature on Alcohol and drinking in India and argues for a spatial understanding of the social phenomenon. Two distinct strands emerge from the review, first, the works that exclusively focus on ‘the death and disease perspective’ and second and connected to the first, emerging out of the concern of dire consequences of alcoholism, focus on the prohibition aspect. Both the strands rarely engage with the spatial understanding of the phenomenon. A critical analysis of these works highlights the problems inherent in these works. The paper argues that a spatial perspective can open avenues for research in alcohol geographies. In doing so, we propose directions for future research from the geographical perspective.