Book Review: Hardon, A. Chemical Youth: Navigating Uncertainty in Search of the Good Life. Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, 318 pages.

Abstract

The book being reviewed, Chemical Youth, was written by Anita Hardon, a professor of Anthropology of Care and Health, and director of the global health research priority area at the University of Amsterdam. Her published articles are primarily ethnographic, focusing on pharmaceutical practices, health care, chemical sexualities, self-medication, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), among other topics. The book was edited by Patrick Brown, a professor at Amsterdam University, Anna Olofsson, a professor at Mid Sweden University, and Jens O. Zinn, a professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia. It was published by Palgrave Macmillan Cham in October 2021. It consists of 318 pages and nine chapters in which the authors present the results of a broad and interesting research project called the Chemical Youth Project, carried out by twenty-five young graduate students as part of their thesis project. They undertook ethnographic research in various contexts, including Amsterdam, Paris, Makassar, Yogyakarta, Cagayan de Oro, Puerto Princesa, Brooklyn, and Addis Ababa. They conducted interviews, observations, and formed both formal and informal discussion groups, where participants were able to express how they typically consume chemicals and why. In this way, the youth were able to share their dreams, aspirations, concerns, and challenges in life.