Theorizing black (African) transnational masculinities

Pasura, D. and Christou, A. (2018) Theorizing black (African) transnational masculinities. Men and Masculinities, 21(4), pp. 521-546. (doi: 10.1177/1097184X17694992)

Abstract

Just as masculinity is crucial in the construction of nationhood, masculinity is also significant in the making and unmaking of transnational communities. This article focuses on how black African men negotiate and perform respectable masculinity in transnational settings, such as the workplace, community, and family. Moving away from conceptualizations of black transnational forms of masculinities as in perpetual crisis and drawing on qualitative data collected from the members of the new African diaspora in London, the article explores the diverse ways notions of masculinity and gender identities are being challenged, reaffirmed, and reconfigured. The article argues that men experience a loss of status as breadwinners and a rupture of their sense of masculine identity in the reconstruction of life in the diaspora. Conditions in the hostland, in particular, women’s breadwinner status and the changing gender relations, threaten men’s “hegemonic masculinity” and consequently force men to negotiate respectable forms of masculinity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pasura, Dr Dominic
• Authors: Pasura, D., and Christou, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Men and Masculinities
• Publisher: SAGE
• ISSN: 1097-184X
• ISSN (Online): 1552-6828
• Published Online: 23 February 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Men and Masculinities 21(4):521-546
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license