Traversing the fantasy of drugs: drugs, consumerism and everyday life

Abstract

Drug use is a transient rather than a fixed range of practices. Drug markets are constantly evolving as substances, both old and new, move in and out of fashion. If we are to understand this process of evolution, it must be placed against a background of consumer capitalism. Building on the author’s previous work, this article seeks to move beyond existing theories to examine the nexus of drug use, pleasure and consumerism. This article draws upon a Žižekien account of the unconscious and the ontology of desire. Drawing on ultra-realism this article responds to the call for new theories of drug use to replace the old and outdated theories of the sixties and seventies. Beginning with the claim that we cannot properly grasp ‘real-life developments’ unless we examine ‘the self-propelling metaphysical dance of Capital that runs the show’ this article positions drug use in relation to the key ideological demands of neoliberalism and its subjectivities, including its damaged subjectivities.