New book challenges the assumption that youth drinking is in decline globally

The harmful use of alcohol causes an estimated 3 million deaths every year, of which a significant proportion occur in the young. While alcohol consumption among youth appears to be decreasing in North America and Europe, a new book by University College Dublin (UCD)'s Dr. Emeka Dumbili challenges the assumption that youth drinking is "in decline" globally.

Focusing on Nigerian youth, the book "Reconfiguring Drinking Cultures, Gender, and Transgressive Selves" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) presents an in-depth analysis of young people's experiences of diverse drinking practices, offering a rare analysis of the gendering of alcohol in a non-Western context.

Dr. Dumbili interrogates why, and to what extent, young people's drinking is on the rise in low and middle income countries, in sharp contrast to youth drinking decline in most Western countries. He explains, "This book moves beyond solely Western theorizing. Combining Western and non-Western theorizations, it provides insights into the alcohol industry's role in gendered transgressive drinking and highlights the need to urge caution in generalizing youth drinking decline."

An Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow at UCD's School of Sociology, Dr. Dumbili's research focuses on the gendering of alcohol, evolving drinking cultures, and the effects of alcohol marketing and policy processes.

"The book analyzes how young people enact masculinities and femininities through transgressive and conforming drinking practices that reconfigure drinking cultures through heavy drinking and intoxication. I examine how global and local alcohol corporations contribute to gendered transgressive drinking in Nigeria by their targeted marketing to young people, and consider the impacts of imposed alcohol regulations and reactions of resistance and subversion," he says.

Executive Director at the Center for Research and Information on Substance Abuse (CRISA) in Uyo, Nigeria, Professor Isidore S. Obot, said, "The research literature on alcohol and society in Nigeria is sparse at best. This is a significant contribution to research on alcohol in Africa with immense policy relevance, especially at this time when Nigeria and other countries are grappling with the development of national alcohol policies."

The book will benefit students, social scientists, policymakers, and those interested in decolonizing gender scholarship or commercial determinants of health.

Dr. Dumbili is a mentor on the WHO Scientific Research and Writing Mentorship Initiative towards diversity in research on alcohol control policies, and has held teaching and research positions in universities and institutes in Nigeria, Germany, and the UK. Watch the November 2023 World Health Organization Webinar on Youth and Alcohol featuring Dr. Emeka Dumbili.