Masculinities and social change

Public lecture by Riikka Prattes, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Gender, Sexuality and Critical Diversity Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway.

This public lecture will give an overview and assessment of current debates within Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities (CSMM), especially as they relate to theories of social change. Starting with an overall introduction to the field, I will lay out key concepts, such as hegemonic masculinities, hybrid masculinities and caring masculinities. In current debates, caring masculinities (those that embrace care and reject domination) are portrayed by some scholars as merely a specific version of hybrid mas culinity (meaning small changes in style rather than substance that ultimately serve to shore up patriarchy rather than subvert it). Drawing on empirical research with marginalized men working in the Australian health care and social assistance sector, I will engage with the debate and argue against said conceptual conflation. Instead, I argue that in order to work towards positive change, it is necessary to make space for the possibility of transformation conceptually.

Invited by Section for Education, Trine Øland.

Everyone is welcome, registration is not needed