Panel: Masculinities, Backlash, and the Politics of Push Back

Masculinities, Backlash, and the Politics of Push Back

We are experiencing a world where gender equality and broader structures of inequality and exclusion have once again become contested. This is reflected in rising reports of violence and harassment, widening gender pay gaps, and persistent inequalities in the division of unpaid care and domestic work. At the same time, movements that fuel hostility toward women, migrants, and LGBTQ+ people have become increasingly visible and politically influential.This spring semester, RIKK – Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland - will place a special emphasis on critical engagement with the contemporary backlash against equality and inclusion more broadly. Through three panel discussions, scholars from different disciplines will examine how this pushback targets multiple groups and rights simultaneously, how it is articulated across political, social, and legal arenas, and how it can be critically analysed, addressed, and resisted.

In the first roundtable, to be held at the National Museum of Iceland on Wednesday, the 18th of February at 12:30–14, the panel discussion examines how hegemonic and militarised masculinities are entangled with far-right ideologies, extractivist capitalism, and resistance to gender equality, inclusion, and fundamental rights.

At this time of critical reflection on the current crisis facing the fight for human rights from feminists and the international left, there is a recognition that calls for urgency in facing climate change or “fascism” enable mobilization but do not always serve political ambitions. These considerations gesture towards a formulation of alternative political and ethical futures, treading the thin line between revolution and reform. What is the place of human rights, gender, and climate emergencies within this larger picture?Despite extensive and potentially endless theorising around masculinities (i.e. hegemonic, toxic, militarised), there is a need for greater synergies between theorising intersectionality and thinking about men’s power and privilege, particularly in relation to recent developments that include anti-gender politics, far-right movements, and fascist policies and practices. Analyses concerned with the role of men and men’s power in cases of violence against women, alongside intersectionality as a theory offering insights into structural and systematic inequalities, represent critical interventions that may be more meaningfully introduced to combat misogyny on a global scale.Drawing on perspectives from anthropology, history, and feminist international relations, the panel will address questions of the role of men and masculinities in these contemporary political shifts, and how feminist and critical masculinity studies can help us understand, challenge, and push back against these developments. The discussion brings together scholars working on masculinities in the context of the (m)Anthropocene, the rise of fascist and authoritarian politics, and the gendered logics of militarization. While centering the current moment of backlash, the panel also highlights emerging critical, feminist, and hopeful imaginaries of men and masculinities that seek to open up alternative political and ethical futures.

Speakers: Tamara Shefer is Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town; Marsha Henry, Professor in the Institute for Peace, Security and Justice, and the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen's University Belfast; and Pontus Järvstad, Postdoctoral researcher in history at the University of Iceland.

Moderator: Giti Chandra, Research Specialist at RIKK – Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland.

The event is held in English and is open to everyone.