‘Drinking a Lot’ in Denmark, Estonia, and Italy: Norms and Meanings Related to Excessive Alcohol Use

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between excessive alcohol consumption, social context and perceived cultural norms in three European countries from the perspective of young adults. This generation is the first to come of age in a globalized world, frequently discussed in terms of diminishing national and regional differences. Several scholars have argued that these transformations have contributed to an increasing homogenization of European drinking cultures. The article seeks to analyse how young adults from different sociocultural backgrounds define and interpret excessive drinking, emphasizing both similarities and divergences in drinking practices. In doing so, it demonstrates how such practices are embedded in broader historical developments and contemporary cultural attitudes. Drawing on 24 focus group interviews conducted with young adults in Denmark, Estonia and Italy, the analysis is structured along three dimensions: the perceived (un)acceptability of excessive alcohol use, processes of ‘othering’ in explaining excessive drinking and gender-specific drinking norms.