Men from the South

Abstract

In this chapter we propose theoretical resources for advancing critical scholarship on men, masculinities and intimate partner violence. We take as our starting point the ways in which theorising in the knowledge economy flows from north to south – with concepts, theorising, agendas and methodologies from the south infrequently being given recognition in the global North and as a corrective, draw on our feminist work on masculinities and gendered violence in South Africa. Beginning with this work we show that men’s experiences of perpetrating violence against women must be read and understood within their own complex life histories, contexts and situations that have been shaped by intersecting structural oppressions. To facilitate such understanding, we propose intersectional thinking about intimate partner violence and masculinity, as a resource allowing for an appreciation of the full complexity of the realities and histories of men who exist in white supremacist, neoliberal, capitalists, patriarchal contexts. At the same time, we see the work on intimate partner violence and masculinities as in dire need of grappling with coloniality – specifically, how to understand black and marginalised men’s violence in structures where they have and continue to be conditioned to despise and fear both women and their own black selves. This understanding we argue would be advanced through taking cognisance of feminist decolonial theorising that will allow for an understanding of the ways in which the continuities of racist and sexist colonisation are still ever present and continue to shape the lives of men with important implications for ending their violence against women partners.

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