Ecstasy (MDMA): A rebellion coherent with the system
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Sage Publications LTD
Materia
Cultural approach Drugs Ecstasy Raves Subculture
Date
2021-02Referencia bibliográfica
García-Montes, J. M., Pérez-Álvarez, M., Sánchez-Moya, M. Á., Torres, J. A. C., Carreno, D. F., Garcelán, S. P., & Sánchez-Sánchez, L. D. C. (2020). Ecstasy (MDMA): A rebellion coherent with the system. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 1455072520954329. [DOI: 10.1177/1455072520954329]
Abstract
This study attempts to demonstrate the relevance of the socio-cultural model of drugs in
explaining the impressive development of ecstasy in the last 45 years. Method: First the study
describes the use of ecstasy by groups which have left their imprint on the substance: university
students, gays, yuppies and the “New Age” movement. Then the link between ecstasy and techno
music led to the socially integrated “club” phenomenon, and the “rave”, which began as a rupturing,
nonconformist phenomenon. Findings: According to this argument, in spite of its clearly
counterculture beginnings, the “rave” movement and its most characteristic drug, ecstasy, have
gradually become integrated into mainstream culture, somehow reinforcing the functioning of
capitalist postmodernity. Our study explains ecstasy’s history in reference to the cultural contradictions
of capitalism and the functions that it currently fulfils for young people. Based on this
analysis, the implications of the cultural perspective are discussed as a paradigm of research in drug
use, stressing notions of subculture, myths and rituals. It also proposes a harmonious articulation
of academic and common knowledge as the most appropriate method for their study. Conclusion:
A cultural approach to drug use could assist in unblocking a field so in need of conceptual and
empirical revision.