Fiche du document
2005
Copyright PERSEE 2003-2023. Works reproduced on the PERSEE website are protected by the general rules of the Code of Intellectual Property. For strictly private, scientific or teaching purposes excluding all commercial use, reproduction and communication to the public of this document is permitted on condition that its origin and copyright are clearly mentionned.
Sujets proches
Intoxication Intemperance Abstinence Drunkenness Total abstinence Borrachera Intoxicación etílica aguda Sobriété alcoolique TempéranceCiter ce document
Danielle Cornot, « Stigmatisation, codes de conduite et culture de la tempérance aux États-Unis », Caliban, ID : 10.3406/calib.2005.1565
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
This article proposes to apply the interactionnist theories of deviance defined by the sociologist Howard Becker to the analysis of the political process which has enabled "government entrepreneurs" to legitimize the imposition of New Temperance norms and to mobilize American people. Since the 1980s, the "New Temperance Movement" has grown stronger on the political arena in a context of fundamentalist expansion and political neoconservatism. However, contrary to the 19th century, the main religious groups do not openly participate in the political debate on alcohol ; the public health sector has become the new herald of temperance. The study of the stigmatization of wine in particular shows that the norms of temperance — abstinence, not moderation — target specific groups qualified as "vulnerable women" : under 55, young people, ethnic minorities, and underprivileged social classes. Moreover, cosmopolitan elites are also stigmatized for their "un-American" lifestyle. The attempt that is being made to control individual behaviors and mores reflects the spirit of moral crusades described by Becker.