Gefährlicher Genuss?

Drinking is essential to life. However, who, how, where, what and when was allowed and able to drink was subject to continuous processes of negotiation and change throughout history. The meanings of stimulants - be it beer or wine, coffee or tea - varied between everyday drinks, medicinal remedies or addictive substances and prestigious luxury goods. Their consumption could be considered socially desirable or dangerous. The articles in this volume bring together analyses of drinking practices and the debates about them over time; in this way, they provide information about social, political, cultural and economic concepts of order from the early modern period to the present day. They also show that drinking practices were used to negotiate questions of identity, belonging and distinction, race, class, gender and other categories of difference across epochs.