Masculinities
Members:
Elahe Haschemi Yekani, Sven Glawion, Jana Husmann
Time Frame: Mai 2005 bis Dezember 2007
Research Questions
The working group “Masculinities” worked with the construction and crisis not only of hegemonic, but also marginalized masculinities, and analyzed them -- as a result of the interests of our particip
ants -- from the theoretical perspective of feminist theory, racism research, critical whiteness studies, and queer theory.
Our central questions were: which bodies of knowledge are cited in order to construct hegemonic masculinity? Which knowledge organizes and legitimizes distortions of masculinity? Which historical (or scientific) cesura generate narratives of crisis and how are these structured? To work through these questions, the working group “Masculinities” applied theories and analyses to the terms ‘hegemony’ (Antonio Gramsci, Raewyn Connell, etc.) and ‘crisis’ (Stefanie von Schurbein, Toni Morrison, Walter Erhart, etc.).
In the foreground of the international conference, “Production and Crisis of Hegemonic Masculinity in Modernity,” -- at which the working group “Masculinities” organized the junior researcher work-in-progress day (the three members of which were supported by Dr. ute Frietsch) -- was the development of new questions bringing the meanings of ‘old’ and ‘new’ narratives of redemption and salvation for the figuration of hegemonic masculinity (e.g. traditions of light figures, the man of sorrows, redeemers, etc.) into focus. Although all working group members oriented their work towards cultural studies, they still came from different academic disciplines. This meant that the resulting emphases and perspectives of the group were reflected on interdisciplinarily, which broadened the horizons of each member and prompted them to learn to ask new questions. The group’s work proved to be very productive also in the broader context of the research training group -- Elahe Haschemi Yekani and Sven Glawion for example took part in a podium discussion on masculinity research and conducted team teaching on masculinity in coming-of-age narratives; Jana Husmann-Kastein gave presentations about religious and esoteric worldviews, oriented toward questions based on gender theory, at academic conferences.
Events
Internationale Konferenz: Produktion und Krise hegemonialer Männlichkeit in der Moderne
Zeit: 07.-10.12.2006
Ort: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
(Organisation des Work in Progress für Nachwuchswissenschaftler/-innen)
Kollegsinterner Workshop: Erlöser. Figurationen männlicher Hegemonie
Zeit: 12.12.2006
Ort: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Publications
Erlöser. Figurationen männlicher Hegemonie, hg. v. Sven Glawion, Elahe Haschemi Yekani und Jana Husmann-Kastein, Bielefeld 2007.