The constitution of entrepreneurial subjects : the alignment of Narcotics Anonymous and neoliberalism

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is the most widely used and accepted drug treatment program in North America. Despite its popularity, there is little research and literature on this twelve-step recovery program. In this thesis I argue that NA is aligned with neoliberal political rationalities, which are involved in promoting specific forms of individual responsibility and self-government in the construction of 'addict' subjectivities. Specifically, I argue that NA is a technology of the self that requires 'addicts' to transform their selves, through techniques of the self, into 'recovering addicts' in order to achieve recovery. These arguments are elaborated upon through a discourse analysis of the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text and a governmentality theoretical framework. Specifically, I use Foucault's modes of objectification to explore four ways by which people in NA are turned into subjects (scientific objectification, dividing practices, unifying practices and self-objectification). I highlight the two types of 'addict' subjectivities found in NA; the 'addict' and the 'recovering addict'. Using the examples of abstinence and confession, I demonstrate how NA instructs individuals to engage in techniques of the self in order to govern their selves according to the Twelve Steps of NA. I also discuss the centrality of the concept of freedom in this transformation and in NA in general