An invitation to decoloniality in work on (African) men and masculinities

Abstract

Seeing masculinity is, according to Raewyn Connell, 'a place in gender relations', what is the place accorded to males once considered property in men and masculinities studies, how are the practices of these 'former properties' fathomable as men's, and what masculinities emanate from the place these 'non-beings' occupy? This article, which emerges from being seized with thinking on coloniality, pursues the question about the possible place/s of men once regarded as property from within masculinities studies. A distinction is introduced in the way work on men and masculinities in the wake of colonialism is undertaken, the intention being to present an invitation to decoloniality.

Back in Youth: Social Unbecoming in the Study of West African Masculinities

“…Goffman also emphasised that while performativity may have a ring of insincerity to it, the performative dimension of these practices does not evoke a masking that conceals the (authentic) self from view (see also Bjarnesen, 2014; Newell, 2012), but rather the enactment of a symbolically and morally loaded collective social category, which in turn reflects back on broader “struggles for being” (cf. Ratele, 2021: 772; see also Van Wollputte, 2020: 69). The profoundly social and relational dimension of masculinities in this sense may be particularly useful when studying these gendered identities across various African contexts.…”

Research Report Beyond Stereotypes: Afghan Men as Allies for Gender Equality and Feminist Peace

“…Similar to Connell, and in his piece ‘An invitation to decoloniality in work on (African) men and masculinities’, Kopano Ratele critiques the body of work on men and masculinities for its lack of focus on colonialism. He writes: “Whereas colonialism reconfigured men’s lives and masculinities, it has tended to be peripheral in the global work on men and masculinity” (Ratele, 2021, p. 769). Our report responds to some of the challenges laid down by Ratele, Inhorn and Naguib, and Connell while countering stereotypes of Afghan men.…”

Patriarchal Anxieties and Masculine Sexual Privilege in Contemporary Urban Mali

“…5 Under the conditions of Bamako's neoliberal transition imposed by multilateral financial institutions, weak labour demand and rising costs of living have considerably strained men's ability to earn incomes and provide (even nominally) for their families, jeopardising the terms of the patriarchal bargain. As in so many African cities, young men in Bamako therefore frequently find themselves unable to satisfy the local conditions of adulthood–namely, earning a living wage and marrying–and thereby see themselves as forced to live as “(non)men” (Ratele, 2021: 771) in a state of “waithood” (Honwana, 2012). Yet, while frequently unable to play the role of dominant providers for their households, men remain under strong social pressure to embody that role.…”