Environment & Urbanization

World leading environmental and urban studies journal

Men, Masculinities and Disaster

Author(s): 
Elaine Enarson, Bob Pease

Publisher: 
Routledge

Pages: 
246

Year: 
2016

Men, Masculinities and Disaster brings into view the place and role of masculinities, how they are socially constructed, and how they enter into all phases of the disaster cycle. It stems from the collaboration between its editors, Elaine Enarson (an independent scholar in Colorado, USA) and Bob Pease (a professor at the University of Tasmania), who share a kindred interest in the interlinkages between gender and disasters (page 4). They position this book to address the invisibility of men as gendered actors in disaster studies.

This book’s authors believe in the social construction of disasters, in other words the role that society plays in both disaster causes and outcomes. They take a particular interest in how social order fashions disaster notions in the gender context (page xvii). Enarson and Pease structure Men, Masculinities and Disaster in four key parts, which comprise four to six chapters each. Across 19 chapters, there are 30 contributors to the book, including its editors.

Part 1 is entitled “Critical men’s studies and disaster”. Its first chapter, by Enarson and Pease, acts as an introduction to the book. Here, the editors emphasize that it is critical to move beyond individualistic approaches to gender in order to understand the links among men, masculinities and disaster. In Chapter 2, Pease explores the gendered nature of the causes of and responses to climatic events worldwide, with human-induced climate change and increasing climate-related natural disasters as a backdrop (page 21). Following this, Rachel Luft draws upon Hurricane Katrina to explore men and masculinities in the social movement for a just reconstruction that followed the disaster (page 34). Duke Austin in Chapter 4 considers increased levels of gendered violence in the aftermath of disasters and theorizes that it is due to the breakdown of structures that support hegemonic masculinity (page 45). And in Chapter 5 Sarah Bradshaw uses the experience of Hurricane Mitch to “explore how patriarchal relations might be affected by an extreme climatic event and what this might mean for men and male identify post-disaster” (page 57).

Part 2 is called “The high cost of disaster for men: Coping with loss and change”. This begins with Christine Eriksen and Gordon Waitt using a narrative approach in Chapter 6 to explore the experiences of men who manage wildfires in New South Wales, Australia (page 69). Also based in Australia, Debra Parkinson and Claire Zara in Chapter 7 share their research into the emotional and personal costs for men of the Black Fire bushfires in 2009. Based on Sri Lanka’s experience of the 2004 tsunami, Chapter 8 by Malathi de Alwis seeks to disrupt our conception of violence as a predominant form of masculinity (page 93). To conclude, Rika Morioka in Chapter 9 examines the choice men make between economic stability and radiation exposure following the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan.

Part 3, “Diversity of impact and response among men in the aftermath of disaster”, comprises four chapters. Chapter 10 by Mark Sherry starts by expounding how disabled men’s subjectivities, which are shaped by abjection, are life-threatening in the case of a disaster (page 117). Andrew Gorman-Murray, Scott McKinnon and Dale Dominey-Howes then go on to unpack the gendered experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations in Australia following the 2011 Brisbane floods (page 128). In Chapter 12, Kirsten Vinyeta, Kyle Whyte and Kathy Lynn explore the vulnerability and resilience to climate change of indigenous communities in the United States and Canada, as shaped by gender. Continuing this geographic focus, Jennifer Tobin-Gurley and others in Chapter 13 “highlight questions about male youth and the complexity and diversity of their post-disaster experiences” (page 152).

Part 4 is entitled “Transforming masculinity in disaster management”. As Enarson and Pease state, the six chapters of this section conclude the book by providing six perspectives on making change and thus contributing to progressive action to address climate and disaster risks (page 13). Chapter 14 by Mathias Ericson and Ulf Mellström addresses the strong links between technology and masculinity among firefighters, and draws upon cases in Sweden (page 165). Dave Baigent in Chapter 15 provides a reflexive view of masculinity in the fire service based on his experience in the United Kingdom (page 175). In Chapter 16, Kylah Genade uses a gendered lens to reflect on how men’s social justice work in Southern Africa may mitigate future disasters and climate-related risks by reducing gender inequalities (page 186). In the following chapter, Stephen Fisher explores the gender training for disaster (male) managers in the Pacific and assesses the tensions and shortcomings for disaster response and management (pages 197 to 198). Chapter 18 turns to the Caribbean, where Leith Dunn “argues the case for increased integration of men and masculinities in climate change and disaster risk management” (page 209). Enarson concludes in Chapter 19 by reflecting upon an action research agenda for men, masculinities, and disasters/climate change; thus it offers three lines of research.

As is evident, this book offers a discourse that is diverse (in both geography and subject) around men, masculinity and disasters. It serves to bring the two disciplines of gender and disasters closer and highlight their interlinkages. Men, Masculinities and Disaster can be read as a whole or individual chapters read for specific interest, and it is relevant to development practitioners, academics and students, among others.

 

Book note prepared by Hannah Keren Lee

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