Masculinity, Labour and Neoliberalism: Reviewing the Field

Abstract

"This book explores the ways in which neoliberal capitalism has reshaped the lives of working-class men around the world. It focuses on the effects of employment change and of new forms of governmentality on men's experiences of both public and private life. The book presents a range of international studies--from the US, UK, and Australia to Western and Northern Europe, Russia, and Nigeria--that move beyond discourses positing a 'masculinity crisis' or pathologizing working-class men. Instead, the authors look at the active ways men have dealt with forms of economic and symbolic marginalization and the barriers they have faced in doing so. While the focus of the volume is employment change, it covers a range of topics from consumption and leisure to education and family."-- Acknowledgements; Contents; Notes on Contributors; Chapter 1: Masculinity, Labour and Neoliberalism: Reviewing the Field; Marginalized Masculinities; Masculinities and Education; Accepting and Resisting Neoliberal Governmentality; Neoliberalism, Employment and Wellbeing; References; Chapter 2: Men, Masculinity and Labour-Force Participation in Kaduna, Nigeria: Are There Positive Alternatives to the Provider ... ; Introduction; The Nigerian Economy; Gender in Nigeria; The Four Foundations of Contemporary Nigerian Masculinity; Control over Resources: Breadwinning. Gender-Age Positionality and ControlVirility; Bravery/Protection; The Gender Framework; Men, Masculinities and Breadwinning in Nigeria; Employment in Nigeria; Kaduna, the Breadwinning Role and Menś Employment; Conclusion; References; Chapter 3: Yearning to Labour? Working-Class Men in Post-Industrial Britain; Introduction; Masculinity and Work in Industrial Society; Postindustrial Restructuring; Unemployment, Austerity and Welfare Reform; Conclusions; References; Chapter 4: Formulating the Postindustrial Self: The Role of Petty Crime Among Unemployed, Working-Class Men in Stoke-on-Trent. IntroductionThe Ontological Challenge; Reaffirming the Defensible Self; Street Capital, Reciprocity and Solidarity; Conclusion; References; Chapter 5: Young Working-Class Men Without Jobs: Reimagining Work and Masculinity in Postindustrial Sweden; Young Swedish Working-Class Men in Contextual Discontinuity; The Study Context; Loss and Nostalgia; Unmarketable Selves; Reflecting on the Meaning of Work and Masculinity; Conclusion; References; Chapter 6: `I Am Going to Uni! ́Working-Class Academic Success, Opportunity and Conflict; Introduction. Working-Class Educational Achievement and the Performance of Studious MasculinitiesContext and Methods; Introducing `The Geeks:́ Educational Achievement, Subject Choice and Family Biographies; The Performance of a Geeky Front: Classroom Practices and Social Interaction; Boyishness: The Geeks Doing `Mature ́Heterosexuality; Contradictions and Social Pressures; Conclusion; References; Chapter 7: Becoming a Working-Class Male Adult Learner: Formations of Class and Gender in the Finnish Learning Society; Introduction: Concern About Men in Adult Education. Class and Masculinities in a Nordic Learning SocietyData and Methodology; Working-Class Adult Learner Masculinities; Proper Men Aspiring to be Worthy Citizens; Independent Menś Disregard for Societal Expectations; Honest Menś Protest Against Societal Expectations; Emerging Hierarchies and Divisions; Conclusions; References; Chapter 8: Automobile Masculinities and Neoliberal Production Regimes Among Russian Blue-Collar Men; Introduction; Working-Class Masculinity and the Postsocialist Neoliberal Order; Automobile Working-Class Masculinities.