Review
Men of the Global South highlights a population group which hardly figures in the literature of gender and development - or indeed in the literature of development in general. It describes men in all their complexity and inconsistency - violent and non-violent, powerful and not powerful, straight and not straight, maintainers of tradition and destroyers of it, as they really are and as they want and fear to be. In doing so it fills a big gap in the literature, and raises a challenge to the gender and development mainstream to explain why it overlooks the gendered lives of men as well as women. Judy El-Bushra This impressive collection is a much needed contribution to the visibility and understanding of diversity in the lives of men from the South. Dr. Dubravka Zarkov, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague Men of the Global South paints a much-needed picture of men and masculinity in the developing world. Both potentially controversial and uniquely insightful, it provides a rich new set of case-material and conceptual tools for researchers and teachers. This pathbreaking set of essays will significantly deepen our understanding of gender and development. R. Charli Carpenter, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh A landmark work of global gender research, bringing fresh experiences, perspectives and analyses. Oystein Gullvag Holter, Research Director, Nordic Institute of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Oslo The book skilfully brings together literary and scholarly work, and charts out new territory for the study of men and masculinities in the Global South. The book challenges prevailing prejudices and stereotypes while indicating differences and similarities and introducing new conceptions of masculinity. Cathrine Brun, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) This wide-ranging and carefully-selected collection of short articles does exactly what Adam Jones set out to do: it complicates masculinity. The hegemonic gender, and the 'taken for granted position' of masculinity, needs to be examined much more carefully - we need to understand its complexity. This is because the social consequences of how men understand their roles in the context of rapid social and economic change are tremendous. Particularly in the Global South, in the face of the massive social challenges posed by globalization, poverty, conflict and climate change, this book argues that it is imperative that we understand men better in order to support resolutions to these problems that produce gender equality and social harmony. Anne-Marie Goetz, Chief Advisor, Governance, Peace and Security at UNIFEM
Product Description
This Reader fills a gap in the literature on gender and the developing world. In recent years there has arisen a sophisticated feminist literature on the lives of Third World women, their roles in development and their experiences of conflict. However the lives of Third World men have remained either vaguely drawn or invisible. Too often, a tendency has been evident either to ignore men, or to consign them to negative and stereotypical gender roles. While it is vital not to overlook men's roles in crime, exploitation, and violence, it is obvious that a more nuanced and empathetic portrait of Third World men remains to be painted. It is this perspective which makes this Reader a genuinely original intervention.
