Public drinking and social organisation in Methven and Mt. Somers

Abstract

The results from an ethnographic study of two South Island rural towns, Methven and Mt. Somers, are presented in this report along with a selected review of the literature on pubs. An argument is developed that integrated ethnography is necessary to fully understand public drinking, and that practice theory is appropriate for integrating interactions with such factors as gender and occupation. We conclude that the findings from the ethnography can be best explained in terms of status, exclusion, and control over both work and identity. The findings are similar to those from overseas studies suggesting that the interactions found in Methven and Mt. Somers occur in a similar form in other rural locations.