Abstract

Neoliberalism has had a radical impact on the lived, gendered experiences of people around the world. But while the gendered dimensions of neoliberalism have already received significant scholarly attention, the existing literature has given little consideration to men’s identities and experiences. Building on the work of Cornwall and Lindisfarne’s landmark text Dislocating Masculinity, this collection provides a fresh perspective on gender dynamics under neoliberalism.
Bringing together a series of short, readable case studies drawn from new ethnographic fieldwork, its subjects range from the experiences of working-class men in Putin’s Russia to colonial masculinities in Southern Rhodesia, and from young British Muslim men to amateur footballers in Jamaica.
'Readers from a wide range of disciplines will appreciate the far-reaching scope of the volume ... It is a welcome addition to any social science syllabus dealing with gender, capitalism, and the intersection of the two.'Gender, Place and Culture
‘A thought-provoking, cohesive, and engrossing collection of anthropological research that will be of interest to all masculinity scholars.’Men and Masculinities
'This book is both a valuable and timely contribution to studies of men and masculinities ... can easily find a place in courses for upper-level undergraduate students or in graduate courses on masculinities, gender, or globalization.'Culture, Society and Masculinities
'Impressive and path-setting ... The contributors have taken a giant step beyond inappropriate generalizing and abstracting in masculinist studies.'Journal of Men's Studies
Masculinities under Neoliberalism stands out because of its rich case studies and its timely focus on how masculinities are subject to change in a neoliberal system.'Allegra Laboratory
'A timely volume with an important introduction by the editors which will set the terms of the debate on issues of men and masculinity for some time to come. The arguments should be accessible to advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students, and the book will be useful in anthropology and gender courses alike.'Sherry B. Ortner, University of Michigan
‘An important and fascinating contribution to global perspectives on what it means to be a man in a time of rising inequality and economic uncertainty.’Nikki van der Gaag, author of Feminism and Men‘Drawing on innovative studies from around the world, Masculinities under Neoliberalism provides exciting new insights into the study of masculinities and gender relations in an increasingly unequal neoliberal world. A must read for scholars, policy-makers and concerned citizens.’Jane Parpart, co-editor of Rethinking the Man Question
‘With its vivid pictures of masculinities under stress in different regions and cultures, Masculinities Under Neoliberalism is a very rich resource for understanding contemporary men’s and women’s lives.’ Raewyn Connell, University of Sydney (Emerita)
‘A powerful mix combining contributions from major figures and emerging stars in masculinities studies. The sparkling analysis throughout should attract new interest and inspire new work in the field.’ Matthew Gutmann, Brown University
‘In this book we have a rare and rich tapestry of individual and groups of men operating against the vast backdrop of neoliberalism. This is a fine book with a surprisingly hopeful message.’ Robert Morell, University of Cape Town
‘If, as Schumpeter argued, the essential fact about capitalism is its 'creative destruction,' one of the relationships it disrupts are ideologies of gender. In this essential volume, the authors show how globalization brings dislocation, upheaval, and migrations to older ideas about masculinity, leading to other forms of destabilization.’Michael Kimmel, executive director, Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities
‘A wonderful and politically timely collection with a global reach Masculinities under Neoliberalism brings together insightful ethnographic studies that explore changing power and anxieties of men's lives in different cultural contexts. Interdisciplinary and grounded in comparative approaches it explores what is happening to men and masculinities in tense times of global economic crisis and rising inequalities.’Victor Seidler, Goldsmiths, University of London
'Masculinities under Neoliberalism is not just an important, comprehensible and extremely timely endeavour to grasp the immeasurable impacts of neoliberal reforms … [the book] is itself a historical document, a product of its own time, written in the incongruous prose of urgency and futility that captures the spirit of today … a profound dissection into different life-worlds.'Journal of Extreme Anthropology
'Provides a rich mosaic of masculinities during a period of economic precarity and social fragmentation, and thus offers not only fresh ways of envisioning the various structures of people’s lives, but also contributes to the ongoing topical discussion on masculinities.'Social Anthropology

Andrea Cornwall is professor of anthropology and international development in the School of Global Studies at Sussex University. She has published widely in the fields of gender and development studies, and is the editor of Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies (with Nancy Lindisfarne, 1994) and Men and Development: Politicising Masculinities (with Jerker Edström and Alan Greig, Zed Books, 2011).

Frank G. Karioris is a doctoral candidate in comparative gender studies, with a specialization in sociology and social anthropology from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His dissertation focuses on men’s homosocial relations in an all-male university residence hall in the US. He has published in the Institute of Development Studies’ IDS Bulletin, as well as co-editing the book Reimagining Masculinities (2015).

Nancy Lindisfarne taught social anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London for many years. She has done anthropological fieldwork in Iran, Afghanistan, in a Turkish town, and among the urban bourgeoisie in Syria. Her publications include Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies (co-edited with Andrea Cornwall, 1994), Bartered Brides: Politics, Gender and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society (1991), Languages of Dress in the Middle East (with Bruce Ingham, 1997), Thank God, We’re Secular: Gender, Islam and Turkish Republicanism (2001) and a book of short stories, Dancing in Damascus (2000), which also appeared in Arabic and Turkish.