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Held on day one (June 11, 2014) of the ISSA conference in Vancouver, Canada, SSAC’s interdisciplinary colloquium, ‘New social studies of addiction’, showcased Australian research on addiction.

Recent changes to the substance use entries in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the rise of neuroscience have introduced new debates into the addiction field. In doing so they have drawn fresh attention to this expanding approach to understanding people and their practices. The social and political implications of this change and expansion; of the ‘addicting’ of contemporary society, also demand fresh scrutiny. This colloquium addressed addiction as a social and political phenomenon, exploring it from a range of key perspectives: diagnosis, policy, the law and treatment. The session comprised three research presentations and a discussant.

The International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Vancouver, Canada, June 11-13, 2014

New social studies of addiction

Colloquium presentations:

• David Moore, NDRI, Curtin, Policy imaginaries: Metaphors of gender, addiction and social exclusion in drug policy
• Kate Seear, NDRI, Curtin, The role of legal reasoning in the production of addiction as a ‘complex’ object
• Kirsten Bell, UBC, Thwarting the diseased will: Ulysses contracts, desire and addiction
• Suzanne Fraser, NDRI, Curtin, Discussant – Addiction diagnosis, policy, law and treatment as ‘technologies for the social’