Contracted by Zed Books for publication in 2006
The volume is designed to fill a glaring gap in the literature on gender and the developing world. Roughly contemporary with the evolving literature on development, there has arisen a broad and increasingly sophisticated feminist literature on the lives of women of the South, and their role in development processes. A range of anthologies has also appeared, designed to give students and other interested readers access to the lived experience of ordinary (and extraordinary) "Third World" women.
However, in the proliferating literature on gender and development, the lives of ordinary (and extraordinary) "Third Wold" men have remained either vaguely drawn or invisible. Too often, the tendency has been either to ignore men as "gendered" subjects, or to consign them to negative and stereotypical gender roles, often as victimizers and exploiters of women. While it is vital not to overlook men's roles in crime, exploitation, and violence (and these will not be overlooked in the present volume), it is obvious that a more nuanced and empathetic portrait of men in the global South remains to be painted.
For its part, the emerging literature on men and masculinities has been overwhelmingly focused upon men (although often subaltern men) in the developed world. Only in the last several years has a gender-and-development critique that emphasizes men and masculinities begun to emerge. Zed Books, publisher of the present work, can claim to have broken significant ground here with its publication in 2001 of Bob Pease and Keith Pringle, eds., A Man's World: Changing Men's Practices in a Globalized World, and in 2003 of Frances Cleaver, ed., Masculinities Matter!: Men, Gender and Development.
The intention of Men of the Global South: A Reader is to advance the study of men and masculinities by presenting its subjects in an accessible and intimate fashion that will appeal to students and others interested in development and gender issues, human rights, international political economy, peace & conflict studies, and a range of other subject-areas.
The effort throughout is to provide relatively concise and extremely diverse materials drawn from media and human rights reports, as well as scholarly articles and books. The emphasis is on both first-person testimonies and close-up profiles and reports. Excerpts will range from 250 to 3,000 words in length. They will be designed to convey a vivid and immediate sense of the gendered experiences of men and boys in the Third World. All major regions of the developing world will be represented. While the majority of contributions will be original to the volume, a wide range of previously-published materials from media and academic sources will also be presented. Copyright-clearance for these materials is currently underway.
The book will begin with a framing introduction by the editor (about 20 pages long) that evaluates the "state of the art" of studies of men and masculinities in the global South; outlines the moral stance of the anthology (empathy, inclusiveness, diversity) and the criteria for inclusion of excerpted materials; and sketches an agenda for future research and inquiry.
The framing introduction will be followed by four main sections, titled "Work & Recreation," "Family & Sexuality," "Governance & Conflict," and "Ritual & Belief." Each section will itself carry a short introduction outlining the materials and seeking some framing insights from them. Within these sections, individual excerpts will be titled in a way that suggests prototypical -- not stereotypical -- male identities and experiences in the South. For example,
Work & Recreation: "The Laborer," "The Migrant," "The Farmer," "The Boss," "The Artist," "The Football Coach," etc.
Family & Sexuality: "The Boy Child," "The Father," "The Husband," "The Elder," "The Gay Man," etc.
Governance & Conflict: "The Conscript," "The Warlord," "The Criminal," "The Prisoner," "The Refugee," etc.
Ritual & Belief: "The Believer," "The Mullah," "The Fundamentalist," "The Initiate," etc.
The author hopes to be able to publish further editions of the book in the future, with all-new content, if the work is well-received by its target audience.
Adam Jones is Associate Research fellow for 2005-07 in the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of British Columbia. He is author of Beyond the Barricades: Nicaragua and the Struggle for the Sandinista Press, 1979-1998 (Ohio University Press, 2002), and editor of Genocide, War Crimes & the West: History and Complicity (Zed Books, 2004) and Gendercide and Genocide (Vanderbilt University Press, 2004). His scholarly articles have appeared in Review of International Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Journal of Genocide Research, Journal of Human Rights, and other publications. He is Executive Director of Gendercide Watch, a Web-based educational initiative.
To be kept informed of the progress of Men of the Global South towards publication, please e-mail the editor.
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