Symposium: Rethinking Masculinity



Rethinking Masculinity & Practices of Violence in Conflict Settings

Thursday 5 May 2011






The symposium will address two core themes:

Masculinity as a concept, idea and narrative: When we speak of male violence or masculine violence, how do we think of the relationship between identities and acts? What conceptual vocabularies are appropriate to our analytical and political aims, and how do we negotiate the affective identifications and dis-identifications that come with such labels? How closely do we associate masculinity with biological maleness, and what implications does that have for how we think about female masculinity or the possibilities of non-masculine militarised or non-militarised masculinities? Is masculinity a practice, a cause or an idea?

Practices of violence across time and place: How do situated and empirical investigations substantiate these conceptual questions? Can we learn anything new from the experiences of female peacekeepers or of female combatants? Are theoretical claims about dissociating masculinity from men born out in practice, or are the general patterns much as we might expect from a traditional account of the relationship between men and violence? How can we account for non-violent masculinity, restraint and control, particularly in military and militarised contexts? Where do we place the masculinity of enablers, such as militia commanders or strategists, who legitimise and craft violence without carrying it out themselves? How might we investigate military intervention, sexual violence, violent displacement or people trafficking in global politics in terms which properly account for similarity and difference?

Registration is free and tea, coffee and lunch will be provided on the day. We may also be able to make some contribution towards reasonable travel expenses for participants. Spaces are, however, limited, so please contact Paul Kirby (p.kirby[AT] to register for the day.

Schedule of Papers:

Cynthia Cockburn (City University), Anti-Militarist Movements: Gender Is Still Women’s Work

Terrell Carver (Bristol), Men’s Studies & Masculinities: Three Mantras to Reflect On

Dubravka Žarkov (Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University), Masculinities, ‘War on Terror’ and Feminist Politics

Paul Higate (Bristol), ‘All Guns Blazing’ or going ‘Under the Radar’?: The Politics of Security Profile in the Masculine World of the Private Militarised Security Contractor

Julia Welland (Manchester), Haunted Soldiers and the Myths of Basic Training

Luisa Maria Dietrich Ortega (University of Vienna), ‘The Guerilla was a Feminine Organisation…’: Female Repertoires and the Construction of Guerilla Masculinities

Paul Kirby (LSE), A Debt Paid in Coin & Sweat: Male Gender Orders and the Patriarchal Dividend at War

2 thoughts on “Symposium: Rethinking Masculinity

  1. Pingback: Rethinking Masculinity & Violence: A Call for Papers « The Disorder Of Things

  2. Pingback: The Patriarchal Dividend At War « The Disorder Of Things

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