1st Edition

Ecological Masculinities Theoretical Foundations and Practical Guidance

By Martin Hultman, Paul M. Pulé Copyright 2018
    272 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    272 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Around the globe, unfettered industrialisation has marched forth in unison with massive social inequities. Making matters worse, anthropogenic pressures on Earth’s living systems are causing alarming rates of thermal expansion, sea-level rise, biodiversity losses in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and a sixth mass extinction. As various disciplines have shown, rich white men in the Global North are the main (although not the only) perpetrators of this slow violence. This book demonstrates that industrial/breadwinner masculinities have come at terrible costs to the living planet and ecomodern masculinities have failed us as well, men included.

    This book is dedicated to a third and relationally focused pathway that the authors call ecological masculinities. Here, they explore ways that masculinities can advocate and embody broader, deeper and wider care for the global through to local (‘glocal’) commons. Ecological Masculinities works with the wisdoms of four main streams of influence that have come before us. They are: masculinities politics, deep ecology, ecological feminism and feminist care theory. The authors work with profeminist approaches to the conceptualisations and embodiments of modern Western masculinities. From there, they introduce masculinities that give ADAM-n for Earth, others and self, striving to create a more just and ecologically viable planet for all of life.

    This book is interdisciplinary. It is intended to reach (but is not restricted to) scholars exploring history, gender studies, material feminism, feminist care theory, ecological feminism, deep ecology, social ecology, environmental humanities, social sustainability, science and technology studies and philosophy.

    Prologue: Separate Paths Towards A Common Future  Section 1: Conceptual Foundations  1. Introduction - Interrogating Masculinities  2. Masculine Ecologisation – From Industrial/Breadwinner and Ecomodern to Ecological Masculinities  Section 2: Four Streams  3. Men and Masculinities – A Spectrum of Views  4. Connecting Inner and Outer Nature – A Deeper Ecology for the Global North  5. Lessons from Ecological Feminism  6. Caring for the 'Glocal' Commons  Section 3: Ecological Masculinites – An Emerging Conversation  7. Headwaters - Previous Research on Men, Masculinites and Earth  8. Ecological Masculinites - Giving ADAM-n

    Biography

    Martin Hultman is widely published in energy, climate and environmental issues, including Discourses of Global Climate Change (2014). He works with grass-roots transitions, rights of nature and global strategies for ending ecocide. Current research projects include gender and energy history, ecopreneurship in circular economies and climate change denialism.

    Paul M Pulé is an Australian scholar and activist specialising in men, masculinities and their impacts on others and self. He is a freelance researcher/educator for change and Honorary Research Fellow at Coventry University’s Centre for Global Learning (GLEA), UK. His research and community education efforts are dedicated to creating a healthier planet for all. Paul continues to work with Martin on conceptual and practical approaches to men and Earth.

    "Taking us on an unconventional journey, Martin Hultman and Paul Pulé untangle what it means to be a man in the western world today. They explore and rethink new expressions of manhood and masculinities towards relational and caring masculinities in service of the global commons. This book is an essential read, especially for men, but also for all those who care about our intertwined futures."Seema Arora-Jonsson, author of Gender, Development and Environmental Governance (2013) and Associate Professor of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala

    "Colonialism, war 'games', rape culture, child sex trafficking, industrial animal agriculture, mass shootings, domestic and public ecoterrorism: throughout recorded history, hegemonic masculinity has been socially constructed and widely accepted for displaying behaviors that wreck the planet, tear apart families, AND oppress women, non-binary/genderqueer people and people of color. But the green tendrils of feminist ecomasculinities have persisted, and their re-emergence here signals real possibilities for transforming the global terrorist triumvirate of climate change, colonialism and corporate hegemony."Greta Gaard, ecofeminist scholar, activist, filmmaker, author of Critical Ecofeminism (2017) and Professor of English at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, USA

    "Ecological Masculinities comes at a pertinent point in our history, expressing humanities’ meditative moment of reflection on 'what has been' into 'what is' as we move beyond gender in our search for true wisdom. Paul and Martin express their masculine embodiment with a fresh critical reflection on deep ecology by toning their feminine expressions of who they are becoming through this mammoth book. I sincerely hope it will awaken a deeper dialogue towards understanding the profound wisdom hidden within Professor Arne Næss’s work. Stay close all!"Pamela Hiley, British Qigong master living in Oslo, Norway, and a personal friend of Arne Naess's

    "Men are the unmarked category and final frontier of gender and environment scholarship. Studies of how hegemonic masculinities are connected with–and drivers of–varied forms of ecological destruction are sorely lacking. We don’t fully understand why this lack persists or how it should be redressed. However, ecological masculinities brings us one giant step toward answering these and many other important questions about men/masculinities and their complex relationships to the world. This book is a conversation starter that is both compellingly presented and desperately needed."Sherilyn MacGregor, Reader in Environmental Politics, University of Manchester, UK and editor of The Routledge Handbook on Gender and Environment (2017)

    "This is a ground-breaking and very welcome book that takes both environmental studies and critical masculinities studies to a new level. Drawing upon four diverse streams of theory: masculinities politics, deep ecology, ecological feminism and feminist care theory, Martin Hultman and Paul Pulé examine the human and planetary costs of ecologically destructive masculinities and outline an important new lens to understand and address the social and environmental challenges we face. Their new ecological masculinities perspective, which is grounded in profeminist men’s capacities to care, provides realistic hope for a renewed ecologically sustainable relationship between men, masculinities and the Earth."Bob Pease, co-editor of Critical Ethics of Care in Social Work (2017), Honorary Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Australia and Adjunct Professor, Institute for the Study of Social Change, University of Tasmania, Australia

    "Associating the approach of caring with masculinities based on feminist thinking is a step up in western thought toward a more inclusive civilization. This is one of the most important contributions of this book on ecological masculinities."Tammy Shel (Aboody) has a Ph.D. from UCLA in philosophy of education and is author of The Ethics of Caring (2007)

    "Ecological Masculinities is the first book-length and research- and theory-driven exploration of specifically men, masculinities, nature, and gender equity. [It] is likely to become an essential reference in future research on men and nature...[and] will provide readers from undergraduate students upward with guidance on how to advance further in this field and which “streams” to wade deeper into."Harri Salovaara in Men and Masculinities, 2019, 1-2, DOI: 10.1177/1097184X19839444