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British Journal of Criminology Advance Access published online on October 30, 2009
British Journal of Criminology, doi:10.1093/bjc/azp065
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The British Journal of Criminology 0:azp065 (2009)
© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD). All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Understanding Illicit Drug Markets in Australia

Notes towards a Critical Reconceptualization

Robyn Dwyer* and David Moore

* National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Melbourne Office, 7/19–35 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia; R.Dwyer{at}curtin.edu.au.


  Abstract

The dominant Australian approaches to the study of illicit drug markets are surveillance and criminological research. In this paper, we outline the main features of these approaches before presenting a critical discussion of some of their methods, assumptions and modes of analysis. We argue that these approaches are limited in terms of their methods; reliance on neo-classical economic models; abstraction from local contexts; oversight of social, cultural and political processes; exclusive focus on commercial transactions; under-theorizing of the market; and narrow conceptions of drug market subjects. We conclude by beginning to outline an alternative framework that draws on the anthropology and sociology of markets and that may lead to more nuanced understandings of illicit drug markets.

Key Words: illicit drug markets • methods • theory • social relations • exchange • drug economies


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