Abstract
In hopes of redirecting development theory and policy, Andrea Cornwall, Jerker Edström, and Alan Greig have collected a series of essays for the edited book Men and Development: Politicizing Masculinities. The book meets a great need for a more nuanced understanding of masculinity in global sociology, one that critically assesses the role and influence of ‘Gender and Development’ approaches and one that analyzes in depth how structural inequalities based on class, ethnicity, or education are each interconnected with gender. Essays from scholars and activists showcase a wide range of geographic and cultural viewpoints. The contributions converge around two central critiques of the development discourse: the inaccuracy of polarized understanding of gender (men/women) in comparison to a spectrum of gendered identities; and the ignorance of the implicit role of gender in other fundamental structural power relations in society. Mobilizing around these two grievances, this book calls for uprooting norms about masculinity via wide-scale social movements and interventions designed to reconstruct individuals’ ideals and beliefs.
The book is divided into three main sections. Section 1 discusses the interplay between bodies and identities in the context of development and globalization literature. Viewing gender – and particularly masculinity – in terms of a spectrum or a web, is favored to the male/female gender dichotomy. Section 2 addresses how masculinity is a part of the political, economic, cultural, and historical power structures in society. Gender is seen as a power structure and as an attribute of power structures. Section 3 calls for a politicization of the construction of masculinities in society. This section builds off the discussion of masculinity in terms of identity and societal structures from the first two sections, subsequently constructing new forms of masculinity from an idealized concept of gender equality.
In the first section of the book, the authors draw on their fieldwork in various parts of the world to show the complex nature of masculine identities. Development initiatives often knowingly and unknowingly confront masculine identity and performance. A great example is Chimaraoke Izugbara and Jerry Okal’s chapter on Malawian male youth opinion regarding sexuality and HIV. Masculine identity in Malawi is rooted in males’ sexual prowess. Male youth downplay the need for caution about HIV; people die when they are supposed to die, they reason. Health campaigns to introduce condom use are largely unsuccessful because they are in opposition to Malawian masculine identity – in which carelessness, sexual dominance, and ‘chasing’ girls are primary characteristics – and because they fail to provide a desirable alternative form of masculinity.
Other chapters in this section document the complexity of masculinity. Female to male transgenders in India emphasize the sexual and social dominance they acquire when becoming male. There is a long-standing ‘girly boy’ gender identity in India that is viewed as traditional and is uniquely Indian, despite sharing characteristics of ‘gay’ identity in the West. Females are envisioned as victims and males as perpetrators in general media discourse, yet in reality females are also commonly sexually promiscuous and males are also sex workers. Therefore prior assumptions do not reflect reality and limit the scope of anti-trafficking and HIV/AIDS campaigns, for example.
After establishing the complexity of masculine identity, the second section turns the position of masculinity within the structural power relations of globalization. The authors explain that masculine dominance is embedded into many social structures, including transnational businesses, political bodies, militaries, and religions. In worldwide poverty-reduction and development initiatives, efforts are primarily focused on ‘empowering’ women with more financial opportunities. It is assumed that women are the key to development. Margrethe Silberschimdt critiques this approach, and argues that this assumption leaves men devoid of economic opportunity in countries where any economic opportunity of any kind is scarce. In general, this section offers little in terms of solutions for deconstructing hegemonic masculinity, but rather explains how this dominance penetrates societal structures.
The third and final section of the book is about social movements and development initiatives aimed at altering attitudes and beliefs about masculinity, and promoting gender equitable social policies. Based on the sociological notion that gender is socially constructed and malleable, the authors of these chapters discuss how gender attitudes affect policy and how policy affects attitudes. The work of Gary Barker and his colleagues at Promundo in Brazil is particularly noteworthy. They argue that engaging with individuals in activities of ‘critical reflection’ – through channels such as education classes, television shows, and public media campaigns – allows for the deconstruction of prior belief systems. A series of randomized impact evaluations confirms that these efforts are successful in Brazil at changing public attitudes, and that this in turn changes behavior.
The predominant conclusion of the authors in this book is that masculinity is socially constructed and that a reconstruction of masculinity based on gender equality is within reach. By involving men in gender and development programs, and by engaging them in meaningful discussions about what it means to be ‘real men,’ men around the world realize that gender equality is in their own interest. Moreover, such activities of ‘critical reflection’ lead to social movements that influence social policy. In turn, gender equitable policies decrease hegemonic masculinity and change structural power relations. Reconstruction of masculinities occurs through both micro (individual ‘critical reflection’) and macro (policy changes) efforts.
This conclusion, however, hinges on the assumption that individuals’ ‘critical reflection’ of the socio-historical construction of masculinity and their own ‘maleness’ will lead them to a reconstruction of masculinity that is harmonious with the ideals of gender equality. Unfortunately, contributors to this book do not challenge this assumption, but instead embrace gender equality as a desirable end for masculinity and what it means to be ‘real men.’ Even still, the book is helpful in building theory about men and masculinity in relation to globalization and development. The chapters do not shy away from masculinity’s complex sociological history. While the research methodologies are vague, their observations as scholars and activists are nevertheless valuable in theorizing forms of masculinity in reference to the development discourse. This book is therefore an important resource for further theory-building and for providing hypotheses about masculinity and ‘critical reflection.’