The overarching mission of the rescue services comprises three main areas of responsibility: protection against disasters and accidents; crisis management; and civil defence. This mission covers a long chain of obligations in trying to improve societal prevention capabilities and manage threats, risks, accidents, and disasters concerning generic as well as individual safety. It follows a reactive social chain of threat-risk-crisis-crisis management-care-rehabilitation. The authors in this book show that the interesting occupational characteristics of these societal duties are their connection to gender and crisis management in a wider sense. Gendered practices, processes, identities, and symbols are analytical lenses that provide a particular understanding and explanatory base that has received far too little attention in the academic literature. This book identifies four major themes in relation to a gendered understanding of the rescue services, and more generally emergency work: Masculine heroism Intersectional understandings of sexuality, class, and race Gender and technology Gender equality and mainstreaming processes This book shows how the rescue services constitute a productive ground for contemporary gender studies, including feminist theory, masculinity and sexuality studies. Its critical perspective provides new directions for emergency work and crisis management in a broader sense, and in particular for scholars and practitioners in these areas.

This book explores men's ambiguous relationship with intimate caring work within a context where carefree and nurturing expectations for men are competing for influence. For men, to be more involved carers clashes with commonly valued expectations of them as men and this book analyses how men confront this contradictory expectation.

This is an exciting new edition of R.W. Connell's ground-breaking text, which has become a classic work on the nature and construction of masculine identity. Connell argues that there is not one masculinity, but many different masculinities, each associated with different positions of power. In a world gender order that continues to privilege men over women, but also raises difficult issues for men and boys, his account is more pertinent than ever before. In a substantial new introduction and conclusion, Connell discusses the development of masculinity studies in the ten years since the book's initial publication. He explores global gender relations, new theories, and practical uses of mascunlinity research. Looking to the future, his new concluding chapter addresses the politics of masculinities, and the implications of masculinity research for understanding current world issues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world, dominated by neo-conservative politics, Connell's account highlights a series of compelling questions about the future of human society. This second edition of Connell's classic book will be essential reading for students taking courses on masculinities and gender studies, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.

Feminism has changed the world; it is radically reshaping women’s lives. But what about men? They still hold most of the power in the economy, in government, in religions, in the media and often in the family too. At the same time, many men are questioning traditional views about what it means to be a man. Others resent the gains women have made and want to turn back the clock. Nikki van der Gaag asks the question: how might feminism improve the lives of men as well as women? And is there a place for men in the feminist story?

This stimulating book sets out to critically explore the notion of men, masculinities and teaching in early childhood education. It addresses the global pattern of gender, teaching and care where men are in the minority, and explores the notion that the greater involvement of men within teaching and associated professions has the potential to transform gender relations for future generations. International contributors raise critical questions about the construction of masculinities, the continuing reluctance of men to engage in this type of work, and the influence of political and public debates on the issue. Through this engaging discussion readers are asked to question whether this is something that we should care about, with key topics including: The roles of men in education and care Teachers’ beliefs, norms and values of gender equality The construction of male identities Gendered ideals, and children’s interpretations of gender. Men, Masculinities and Teaching in Early Childhood Education brings together a refreshing and critical set of perspectives linked to an increasingly important educational debate and will be a valuable text for practitioners, professionals, policy makers and parents/carers.

A wide-ranging volume featuring contributions from some of today's leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of men, masculinities and development. Together, contributors challenge the neglect of the structural dimensions of patriarchal power relations in current development policy and practice, and the failure to adequately engage with the effects of inequitable sex and gender orders on both men's and women's lives. The book calls for renewed engagement in efforts to challenge and change stereotypes of men, to dismantle the structural barriers to gender equality, and to mobilize men to build new alliances with women's movements and other movements for social and gender justice.

This book explores navigations of contemporary masculinities amongst young, advantaged men living in Australia and Germany. Taking an intersectional approach, the book argues that more open, egalitarian forms of masculinity, such as caring masculinities, are fostered by marginalised groups. Elliott investigates ways in which privileged men can move towards this openness alongside ongoing expressions of more traditional or regressive masculinity. Drawing on interviews, the book explores these navigations and the ways in which they are bound up with themes such as work, mobility, relationships, the privileges and pressures of masculinities, and the contradictions and difficulties of masculinities under neoliberalism. What is revealed is the need for change at individual, collective and structural levels, with care and openness amongst men as a means of achieving this change. Young Men Navigating Contemporary Masculinities will be of interest to students and scholars in fields such as sociology, gender studies, critical studies on men and masculinities, and cultural studies.