The broad aims of my research are as follows:
- To undertake sociological and interdisciplinary research on alcohol, illegal drugs, NPS, and illicit med use in contemporary night-time economies (NTE) and beyond (Ibiza, festivals, afterparties)
- To build on emergent theoretical concepts such ‘assemblage urbanism’ (Shaw 2014), securitisation, and social harm scholarship, to contribute to our understandings of contemporary drug-taking experiences.
- To critically analyse how alcohol/NPS/drug policy in the UK and beyond is produced and how policy shapes experiences ‘on the ground’.
- To build roadmaps towards a post-prohibitionist future, where we ‘support, don’t punish’ People Who Use Drugs (with thanks to Supportdontpunish)
- To understand the role of pleasure and agency in relation to the consumption of alcohol/illegal drugs/NPS/illicit meds.
- To research the use of digital technologies and social media by social groupings (predominately young adults) and to explore their potential in sociological and interdisciplinary research.
- To contribute to debates regarding the significance of dance club scene participation in its local, global and virtual contexts.
- To provide the research base to shape the development of harm reduction models and drug policy change ‘roadmaps’ relevant to a changing drug landscape.
Research to date
To date I have explored what it means to be a ‘committed clubber’ (Moore 2004), the role of ‘insider knowledge’ in the development of Club Studies (Measham and Moore 2006), ketamine use amongst British young people (Moore and Measham 2008), ‘official’ responses to rave and dance club cultures and related drug use (Measham and Moore 2008), ‘impermissible pleasures’ in UK leisure spaces (Moore and Measham 2011); the (re)emergence of MDMA powder and crystal as a ‘premium product’ in the face of falling purity of ecstasy tablets (Measham, Moore and Welch 2009) and displacement and demand in relation to substituted cathinones (such as mephedrone) (Measham, Moore, Welch and Newcombe 2010).
I received funding from the British Academy for a two year project looking at GHB and GBL use focused on the use of these and other drugs amongst gay male clubbers (Moore et al 2013).
I have an enduring interest in digital technologies and social media such as mobile devices and Facebook in terms of how they are used and experienced by ‘committed clubbers’ (Moore 2004, 2006).
I also have an enduring interest in gender notably in digital industries (Moore et al 2008) and in relation to drug use (Moore and Measham 2013).
I have developed the concept of ‘digital affect’ to try to capture the relationship between clubbers’ identity formation, emotional commitment to clubbing, and use of digital media technologies (Moore 2010, 2011, Moore and Bancroft 2021).
I have written about how best to undertake in situ and online surveys with drug users in recreational settings (Moore and Matias 2018, 2018a). I have co-authored the world’s first report or ‘roadmap’ on the legal regulation of MDMA/Ecstasy, supported by the Beckley Foundation (Moore et al 2019).
I have co-supervised 11 PhD candidates to completion. I have worked at four fantastic HE institutions, including the University of Manchester, Lancaster University, the University of Salford, and (from July 2021), Newcastle University.
Please visit my Google Scholar page for details of publications and projects
Please contact Karenza if you would like further information on any past or present projects.