NWO funding for Gemma Blok’s project “Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet”

Congratulations to HHH board member Gemma Blok, professor in the History of Mental Health and Culture at the Open University, for being awarded a NWO grant for her new project. You can find a short description of her project below, and the complete list of awarded projects here. We wish Gemma all the best with starting her research and we are looking forward to seeing how it develops!

Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet

What do user stories show about the connection between the emergence of drug cultures and individualisation? We investigate the meaning of intoxication by (former) users. Through their stories, this project strives for a better understanding of the role that drug use has come to play in the Netherlands over the past half century. Due to the illegal status of substances such as cocaine, heroin and psychedelics, stories of drug use are surrounded by stigma and taboo. This complicates both the historical analysis and the social debate on drug use and drug policy, in the Netherlands and abroad: this national project serves as a starting point for the internationalisation of digital storytelling on intoxication.