Abstract

PISCITELLI, Adriana  and  SIMONI, Valerio. Masculinities in times of uncertainty and change: introduction. Etnográfica [online]. 2015, vol.19, n.2, pp.293-299. ISSN 0873-6561.

This text introduces the articles in the dossier considering the contributions of studies of gender and masculinities for anthropological theory in the last two decades. Taking into account the scholarship of authors that marked these studies in the mid-1990s, we explore continuities and advances in the field. We show how current debates on gender and masculinity suggest that the main insights developed during this period are still relevant. The methods of anthropology are considered particularly suited for the study of masculinities, given their potential to destabilize “conventional” categories of analysis. The comparative nature of anthropology is seen as extremely productive in that it enables to challenge universal categories and raises key questions on the social contexts in which these categories are employed. At the same time, such variety of contexts, especially in situations of radical change and/or crisis, brings new questions to the fore for the analysis of masculinities. Among them the question of the analytical fruitfulness of the notion of hegemonic masculinity in situations in which force, rather than consensus, appears to acquire more salience.

Keywords : masculinities; gender; crisis; power; agency.

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