Alternative Masculinities For A Changing World

In our globalized and rapidly changing world, hegemonic models of masculinity still prevail in most societies. This collection focuses on gender equitable movements worldwide with the aim to pave the way to new or 'alternative' forms of manhood. Bridging the gap between the social sciences and the humanities, Part I offers an interdisciplinary perspective from the fields of social work theory, sociology, anthropology, and literary studies while Part II delves into the complex paths that fictional characters undergo on their way to eventually becoming more egalitarian men.

The essays all work from the assumption that the wide variety and psychological complexity of literary characters can prove particularly helpful for men to rethink their own masculine identities in new and profound ways. Review: As the title, Alternative Masculinities for a Changing World, indicates: this is fundamentally a political book.

It also makes a major scholarly contribution in engaging very seriously across the social science-humanities boundary, and between social scientists and literary, cultural, and humanities scholars. Such boundary-crossing brings new angles and elements of uncertainty, unsettling, and surprise into the analysis and the politics around men and masculinities, and this is what is needed for change. - Jeff Hearn, Professor, Orebro University, Sweden; Hanken School of Economics, Finland; University of Huddersfield, UK Finding new ways for men to live, creating more gender-equal masculinities, is an urgent task for all concerned with gender justice and indeed human survival.

Alternative Masculinities for a Changing World engages both social science and creative literature in this exploration. It's a bold and imaginative project, and the book gives readers a varied and hopeful view of what's possible for modern gender relations and the lives of men. - Raewyn Connell, University Chair of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, Australia In this rich anthology Carabi and Armengol draw together some remarkably wide-ranging reflections on the pitfalls of shifting masculinities in the contemporary global arena.

There has never been more need for the sort of cross-cultural dialogue on the possibilities for expanding the life-enhancing, alternative masculinities explored so well in this invaluable collection. - Lynne Segal, Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies, University of London, UK, and author of Out of Time: The Pleasures Perils of Ageing