Bruce K. Alexander, The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in the Poverty of Spirit (2008)

This is a remarkable book - quietly, and often persuasively, radical. I was alerted to it by David Courtwright, in Age of Addiction. Alexander makes three main claims: 1) what he calls "psychosocial integration" - basically, people's embeddedness in community - is necessary for human well-being; 2) in modern times, the spread of the free market ineluctably destroys communities, thereby "dislocating" individuals; 3) addictions - which Alexander defines as negative "overwhelming involvements" - are an adaptation to this dislocation. I agree with these points, though I think Alexander could have spent more time fleshing out what, exactly, psychosocial integration looks like. This is all the more necessary because Alexander defines addiction (and by implication the absence of psychosocial integration) so broadly. "Overwhelming involvements" with alcohol and drugs are only a small fraction of addictions in his eyes; other addictions are to gambling, eating, love, work, attention, fame, having more stuff, religion, etc. By contrast, he implies, only a life of balance, and in a community, is whole, healthy, and integrated. The majority of the world's population is addicted, Alexander speculates. This broad definition of addiction, and the damning picture of modern, capitalist life that follows, is what makes the book so radical. Questions remain - for example, is there any place here for Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "flow" state? According to Csikszentmihalyi, this is the "optimal experience" that occurs when we are fully engaged (overwhelmingly involved?) in mastering a challenge. Alexander does make room for positive addications, but seems to imply that these, too, may be incompatible with complete psychosocial integration. Alexander aknowledges the enormous material gains brought about by capitalism; he doesn't advocate its overthrow, only its taming. I think this non-Marxist stance made the radical arguments go down more easily for me. I found myself nodding along to thinkers I had previously scorned, such as Karl Polanyi and even Noam Chomsky! It would be worthwhile to weigh this book's arguments against those in Angus Deaton's Great Escape to develop an overall assessment of capitalism and modernity.