Sick Patients in Liquid Handcuffs? Social Life, Biopolitics and Decriminalised Drug Use in Lisbon
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Master's thesis submitted at the Department of Social Anthropology, autumn 2024.
By: Synne Kaisdatter Krogstad
Supervisor: Professor Bjørn Enge Bertelsen
In this thesis I explore different aspects of the lives of various homeless people who use drugs in Portugal. In a context where all drug use is decriminalised, I argue that, even though the Portuguese state have taken a step away from the War on drugs- narrative, the drug consumer is still regarded as problematic and in need of discipline. This thesis is based on a five month long fieldwork which I conducted in Lisbon. The data have been gathered through participant observation and interviews. Based on my findings in the field I argue that experienced stigma and biopolitical forces contribute to limit my interlocutors room for action. Through exploring aspects of sociality I argue that an exchange economy and expectations of reciprocity create instrumental relations that contribute to the survival in the streets, while hopes and everyday utopias show how people who use drugs are not subjects without agency.
