Introduction: Drinking and Fun in the Arctic
Introduction: Drinking and Fun in the Arctic

Summary/Abstract: We initiated the Arctic workshops at the University of Tartu, Estonia, in 2010. The first three meetings concentrated on discussing the problems of movement in the North. The fourth workshop, Drinking and Driving Is So Much Fun, was held from May 31 to June 1, 2013. The progression from one theme to another does not make much sense at first glance. In general, the Arctic region remained in the focus of our forum and the title of the workshop suggests movement, but actually, what is the connection? The title served as an academic provocation and also indicated how the participants perceived it. We adopted the idea for our workshop title from the song Drinking and Driving, which was recorded by a British punk band, The Business, in the late 1970s, and became an instant hit among beer-loving punks. The song associated drinking with fun and collective action (to put it mildly), demonstrating that beer-drinking can be evaluated as a process involving positive social meaning. At the same time, the organisers also attempted to initiate discussion about the integration of ambivalent alcohol experiences and narratives into anthropological research.

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