Drugging France : mind-altering medicine in the long nineteenth century / Sara E. Black.
| Author/creator | Black, Sara E. author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2022] |
| Copyright Date | ©2022 |
| Description | x, 389 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Intoxicating histories ; 5 Intoxicating histories ; 5. ^A1467457 |
| Contents | Psychotropic Pharmaceuticals -- Self-Experimentation -- Drugging the Mind -- Sex and Drugs -- Economies of Pain. |
| Abstract | "In the nineteenth century, drug consumption permeated French society to produce a new norm: the chemical enhancement of modern life. French citizens empowered themselves by seeking pharmaceutical relief for their suffering and engaging in self-medication. Doctors and pharmacists, meanwhile, fashioned themselves as gatekeepers to these potent drugs, claiming that their expertise could shield the public from accidental harm. Despite these efforts, the unanticipated phenomenon of addiction laid bare both the embodied nature of the modern self and the inherent instability of the notions of individual free will and responsibility. Drugging France explores the history of mind-altering drugs in medical practice between 1840 and 1920, highlighting the intricate medical histories of opium, morphine, ether, chloroform, cocaine, and hashish. While most drug histories focus on how drugs became regulated and criminalized as dangerous addictive substances, Sara Black instead traces the spread of these drugs through French society, demonstrating how new therapeutic norms and practices of drug consumption transformed the lives of French citizens as they came to expect and even demand pharmaceutical solutions to their pain. Through self-experimentation, doctors developed new knowledge about these drugs, transforming exotic botanical substances and unpredictable chemicals into reliable pharmaceutical commodities that would act on the mind and body to modify pain, sensation, and consciousness. From the pharmacy counter to the boudoir, from the courtroom to the operating theater, from the battlefield to the birthing chamber, Drugging France explores how everyday encounters with drugs reconfigured how people experienced their own minds and bodies."-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-376) and index. |
| Other forms | Issued also in electronic format. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Black, Sara E. Drugging France. Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022 0228012511 9780228012511 |
| Genre/form | History. |
| ISBN | 9780228011644 paperback |
| ISBN | 0228011647 paperback |
| ISBN | 9780228011439 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0228011434 hardcover |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | RM315 .B53 2022 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |