All tagged Mining

Revisiting the Concept of Hegemonic Masculinity and Adapting it to the Extractivist Context in Guatemala

Revisiting the Concept of Hegemonic Masculinity and Adapting it to the Extractivist Context in Guatemala

Giulianna Maselli
Political Theory

Thinking about gender relations, both in research and empirical investigation, through the concept of hegemonic masculinity, or even masculinities, is relatively new. Introduced into the field of academic and empirical gender research in the 1980s by the Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell, this concept has made it possible to consider, analyze and deconstruct relations of male-female domination and patriarchy from the male perspective. Hegemonic masculinity is defined by Connell in 1995 as "[not being] a fixed and unchanging personality type, but masculinity that is in a hegemonic position within a given structure of gender relations, a position that is always subject to challenge". She then goes on to define it as "that which guarantees (or is supposed to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women." It thus designates a configuration of - mainly masculine - gender practice that maintains the disparity of power(s) between women and men in a given time and place; the dominant form of representation of masculinity in a given time and place.

Mining, Gender and Activism in Guatemala : A Gendered Construction of Politics

Mining, Gender and Activism in Guatemala : A Gendered Construction of Politics

Giulianna Maselli
Current Events

Analyzing the representation and roles of women in political organizations and public spaces, two observations become clear. Firstly, women are significantly under-represented in elected institutions and in the leadership of political organizations. In actuality, women make up 153 of the 540 voting and non-voting members of [US] Congress when both the House of Representatives and the Senate are taken into consideration. This represents 28% – less than one-third – of all congress(wo)men. And this observation is also true, and sometimes even more evident, in the global South. For example, in Guatemala 31 of the 160 elected representatives are women, which represents only 19% of all the country’s elected representatives. But, why is this the case?

Diamonds and Mining are NOT a girl’s best friend!

Diamonds and Mining are NOT a girl’s best friend!

Giulianna Maselli
Politics

Engaging in a dialogue about gender and economics is not intuitive. Especially, when the main understanding of the economy is based on the global free market, production, and the idea of meritocracy, which leads us to think that this dialogue would be limited to subjects such as equal opportunities between women and men and/or parity; and would leave aside other gendered and economic relationships of domination that are more discrete, normalized, and violent, such as gendered socialization and imposed gender roles. However, the recent resurgence of socio-economic and gender inequalities, and how they are interwoven, has made a deeper exchange necessary. We observe the emergence of an intersectional reflection in both economic and gender terms, which challenges the unequal distribution of wealth, natural resources, and the sexual division of labor.