Contemporary Drug Problems Conference – Aarhus University, August 21-23

“COMPLEXITY: RESEARCHING ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS IN A MULTIPLE WORLD” Aarhus University, August 21-23

Main theme

The last decade has seen the idea of complexity gain force in social science and epidemiological research. As social problems of all kinds prove less amenable to change than is sometimes suggested by the reductionist demands of orthodox positivist approaches, theory and method have turned to ways of articulating the elusive, uncertain and complex.

Conference format

The conference will run over three days.  The program will feature a mix of plenary presentations and concurrent streams. Presentations will run for 20 minutes to be followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion.

A new forum

This conference offers a forum in which the issues and dilemmas of complexity in alcohol and other drug research can be explored. It welcomes research based on quantitative and qualitative methods, and encourages innovative use of methods, concepts and theoretical approaches. Possible themes include:

  • Changing meanings, definitions and measures of addiction
  • The relationships between alcohol and other drug use and health and social phenomena
  • Emerging drugs and conceptions of their effects
  • Public opinion on illicit drug use, drinking or smoking
  • Drug policy and the forces and assumptions that shape it
  • Drugs and addiction in film, news and other media
  • Models and practices of treatment and recovery
  • Pedagogies of addiction and drugs in universities and schools
  • Drugs in urban cultures and spaces
  • Subjects and practices of harm reduction
  • Global politics of drug production and consumption
  • Complexity and method in the addiction and drug use field
  • Validity and reliability in quantitative drug research
  • Quantitative and qualitative theories of complexity and their uses in drug research.

Contacts

  • Queries relating to conference registration, accommodation and venue should be directed to:
    Mai-Britt Johansson
    at mj@crf.au.dk.
  • Queries relating to the conference program should be directed to:
    Adrian Farrugia, Editorial Assistant, Contemporary Drug Problems
    at cdp@curtin.edu.au.