Hegemonic Masculinities and Men in Sweden and Southern Africa: Theorising Power and Change
Hegemonic Masculinities and Men in Sweden and Southern Africa: Theorising Power and Change
The project aims to enhance understanding of a key concept in the gendered research of men, namely hegemonic masculinity. The project will bring together researchers engaged in theorising and researching the issue of men and hegemonic masculinity. These researchers will discuss their respective findings in their different national settings which will enhance the understanding of how men relate to power, how they use this power, and how this can be changed. This project will consider the strengths and weaknesses of the key concept of hegemonic masculinity, as currently used to theorize men and masculinity. Developed by Connell (1983; Carrigan et al., 1985) 25 years ago, this concept remains highly influential. It combines several features: a hierarchy of masculinities, differential access among men to power (over women and other men), the interplay between male identity, male ideals, power and patriarchy. Drawing on Gramsci's ideas of hegemony, the concept shows that power does not have to be enforced with violence or the naked display of power but can be exercised subtly on a foundation of consent or acquiescence.
The researchers will examine the concept in the context of their existing research data to generate an appraisal and a critique, as well as advance context-specific understandings of male power and identity. The collaboration is particularly interested in gender change and the way in which the ideals of masculine behaviour alter. It is widely recognised that gender relations and identities are in a constant state of flux. While there are marked differences in context between Sweden and Southern Africa (in terms for example of poverty and the levels of gender-based violence), the comparison between the two contexts may be of help if we want to understand the processes of gender inequality. The discursive context of gender equality in such different settings is an important framing for the project. Our concern is to examine ‘hegemony' (changes in male power and identity vis-à-vis other men and women) in national contexts which both feature formal commitment to gender equity but which are marked by very different gender orders. Sweden, for example, is marked by relatively low levels of gender-based violence but a labour market strongly differentiated along gender lines. South Africa and Mozambique, on the other hand, have undergone major changes in the gender structure of public life (particularly in Parliament where close on half of all parliamentarians and ministers are women) yet both countries have still a highly unequal gender order. South Africa, for instance, has amongst the highest rates of rape in the world. In these contexts, the challenge is to analyse the hegemony of men not just to explain how male power is translated into gender inequalities, and also to search for evidence that changes in masculinity are occurring which contain potential to assist progress towards gender equity and to understand what is influencing these processes.
The quest to understand male hegemony (‘hegemonic masculinity') is theoretically important but also has major implications for applied gender work. New understandings of male power have the potential to contribute to processes in which men actively and consciously produce alternative (and counter-hegemonic) forms of masculinity which explicitly eschew violence and endorse the principle of (gender) equity.
The collaborative research will comprise engagement between the respective research teams that will provide an opportunity to debate issues, discuss and write. It is not the intention of the link to begin or undertake new research (understood here narrowly as data collection), but rather to think in creative ways about the material that we have already, in our various projects, generated.
Masculinities, International Comparison, Social Change, Gender Equality
The project aims to enhance understanding of a key concept in the gendered research of men, namely hegemonic masculinity. The project will bring together researchers engaged in theorising and researching the issue of men and hegemonic masculinity. These researchers will discuss their respective findings in their different national settings which will enhance the understanding of how men relate to power, how they use this power, and how this can be changed. This project will consider the strengths and weaknesses of the key concept of hegemonic masculinity, as currently used to theorize men and masculinity. Developed by Connell (1983; Carrigan et al., 1985) 25 years ago, this concept remains highly influential. It combines several features: a hierarchy of masculinities, differential access among men to power (over women and other men), the interplay between male identity, male ideals, power and patriarchy. Drawing on Gramsci's ideas of hegemony, the concept shows that power does not have to be enforced with violence or the naked display of power but can be exercised subtly on a foundation of consent or acquiescence.
The researchers will examine the concept in the context of their existing research data to generate an appraisal and a critique, as well as advance context-specific understandings of male power and identity. The collaboration is particularly interested in gender change and the way in which the ideals of masculine behaviour alter. It is widely recognised that gender relations and identities are in a constant state of flux. While there are marked differences in context between Sweden and Southern Africa (in terms for example of poverty and the levels of gender-based violence), the comparison between the two contexts may be of help if we want to understand the processes of gender inequality. The discursive context of gender equality in such different settings is an important framing for the project. Our concern is to examine ‘hegemony' (changes in male power and identity vis-à-vis other men and women) in national contexts which both feature formal commitment to gender equity but which are marked by very different gender orders. Sweden, for example, is marked by relatively low levels of gender-based violence but a labour market strongly differentiated along gender lines. South Africa and Mozambique, on the other hand, have undergone major changes in the gender structure of public life (particularly in Parliament where close on half of all parliamentarians and ministers are women) yet both countries have still a highly unequal gender order. South Africa, for instance, has amongst the highest rates of rape in the world. In these contexts, the challenge is to analyse the hegemony of men not just to explain how male power is translated into gender inequalities, and also to search for evidence that changes in masculinity are occurring which contain potential to assist progress towards gender equity and to understand what is influencing these processes.
The quest to understand male hegemony (‘hegemonic masculinity') is theoretically important but also has major implications for applied gender work. New understandings of male power have the potential to contribute to processes in which men actively and consciously produce alternative (and counter-hegemonic) forms of masculinity which explicitly eschew violence and endorse the principle of (gender) equity.
The collaborative research will comprise engagement between the respective research teams that will provide an opportunity to debate issues, discuss and write. It is not the intention of the link to begin or undertake new research (understood here narrowly as data collection), but rather to think in creative ways about the material that we have already, in our various projects, generated.