The applicant will examine waves of reform in American history projected against the backdrop of cycles of drug use and drug control, with new research into subjects he has only touched upon lightly in the past. He will look at the ebb and flow of competing visions of the goals of the self and society as reflected in the rise and retreat of such phenomena as drug use, temperance, health movements and social and legislative reform initiatives including women's movements. The hypotheses that these activities will seek to test is that these movements peak a lifetime apart as public opinion tires of disorder and places its hopes of betterment first in education and persuasion and then in legal restrictions on personal behavior. As they develop, reform movements follow a trajectory from avant-garde through widespread acceptance, expanding both their following and their ideological content to include an array of behaviors and beliefs that the reformers regard as harmful or dangerous. Seemingly inevitably, they overreach?their well-intentioned efforts at social and moral improvement begin to seem authoritarian, and a backlash or countermovement emerges during which some or all of the accomplishments of reform are undone. The applicant expects to be able to discuss the social trends here described in a narrative analysis of approximately 300 manuscript pages. He intends this work to be accessible and interesting to a general audience of educated readers. Reaching this population is essential to any impact he may have on public discourse related to social trends in behavior and consumption that we seek to improve, promote or eradicate. There is great value to a discussion of how we might use the lessons of history to preserve what we accomplish during a period of reform and thus avoid the excesses and mistakes that bring discredit to otherwise well-intentioned policies. We need to understand such movements so as to preserve our progress and not see it rebuffed once again as enthusiasm outstrips realism, and backlash sets in. To the extent that the applicant's research, writing and speaking can add to the public awareness of reform patterns, the chances of our current reform ending like the first two might be reduced.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter