>On Wed, 6 Mar 2002, Kelley wrote:
>
> > in the same way that _everyone_ is an addict to AA "recruiters" (see,
> > _Becoming An Alcoholic, Rudy) or _everyone_ is a co-dependent or enabler
> > in Al-anon (see feminist critiques of those progs).
>
>This is a libel on AA, although I'm sure an inadvertant one.
nah. check out David Rudy's ethnographic study of aa in Becoming Alcholic. He describes many instances in which he, the researcher, was grilled as to whether he was an alcoholic. He isn't out to attack AA, only show how it socializes people into becoming self-identified alcholics, with members actively repressing criticisms, etc.
yeah, "recruiters" wasn't such a greater word, but that's why I put it under erasure with the scare quotes.
chill. and please, do read Rudy's book. it's an even-handed treatment of a phenom that isn't exclusive to AA but 12 steps in general, and to social life even more generally. he's not out to smash AA, just to show the ways in which it ritually socializes people into the organization.
kelley