Governing Habits: Treating Alcoholism in the Post-Soviet Clinic

246 Pages·2016·1.83 MB·English

by  Eugene Raikhel

Governing Habits
A list of titles in this series is available at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
Governing Habits
Treating Alcoholism
in the Post-Soviet Clinic
Eugene Raikhel
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2016 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2016 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2016
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Raikhel, Eugene A., 1975– author.
Title: Governing habits : treating alcoholism in the post-Soviet clinic /
Eugene Raikhel.
Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016026223 | ISBN 9781501703126 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781501703133 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Alcoholics—Institutional care—Russia (Federation)—
Saint Petersburg. | Alcoholism—Hospitals—Russia (Federation)—
Saint Petersburg. | Alcoholism—Treatment—Russia (Federation)—
Saint Petersburg. | Post-communism—Health aspects—Russia
(Federation)—Saint Petersburg. | Medical anthropology—Russia
(Federation)—Saint Petersburg.
Classifi cation: LCC HV5283.R92 P4873 2016 | DDC
616.86/106094709045—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026223
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing
of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks
and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly
composed of nonwood fi bers. For further information, visit our website
at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Iris, Eli, and Agnes

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. States of Crisis 25
2. Assembling Narcology 52
3. Selling Sobriety 77
4. Prostheses for the Will 104
5. Rehabilitation from Abroad 150
Conclusion 181
Notes 185
Bibliography 201
Index 221

Acknowledgments
This book has taken a long journey to completion. While the travel has
been by no means smooth, it would never have been completed without
the help of many people along the way. My deepest thanks go to all the
patients and physicians in St. Petersburg who shared their time and sto-
ries with me. They include clinicians, staff, and patients at the hospital
and district outpatient clinics of the St. Petersburg Municipal Addiction
Treatment Service, the House of Hope on the Hill, the Bekhterev Psycho-
neurological Institute, and several other institutions. Several people were
instrumental in helping to foster the contacts that allowed me to work in
these institutions: Evgenii Bychkov, Natalia Fedorova, Tamara Metel-
kina, Peter Meylakhs, Vladimir Mikhailov, Valentina Shabalina, Alexan-
der Sofronov, Victor Styazhkin, Dmitri Shagin, and Vladimir Teplitskii.
I owe a great deal to Eugene Zubkov, both for his insights into the state
of contemporary Russian narcology and to his generosity with his many
contacts. I also thank the entire staff of the House of Hope on the Hill for
putting up both with my questions and with the inconvenience that my