Masculinity and Russia's War in Ukraine

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Russia’s war against Ukraine has acted as a nexus for the mobilisation, coalescence and contestation of different versions ofmasculinity amongst men affected by the conflict. The images of militarist masculinity portrayed by intensified Russian state propaganda, coupled with unprecedented economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and a rising sense of isolation and stigma among citizens domestically and internationally, has led to a complex negotiation of national masculinities. This renegotiation is further compounded by forced military mobilisation, a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of young men to neighbouring countries, and the extreme marginalisation of LGBTQ people. This panel builds on studies investigating the connections between masculinity, nationalism, populism, militarism and empire by addressing the mobilisation of masculinity in Russia and the ways it has shaped the lives of different groups of men. To date, a number of studies have explored the ways in which nationalism and militarism have been embodied through constructions of masculinity and, in turn, how such constructs have reinforced or reinvigorated patriarchal structures, as well as other, intersecting inequalities surrounding race/ethnicity, class and sexuality. This panel attempts to widen the lens of masculinity studies – both geographically and theoretically – by adopting a broader perspective on the power relations surrounding masculinity as a form of praxis, patriarchy as a global system, and imperial narratives as reflections of contemporary structures of global coloniality. The empirical studies constituting the panel pursue these ends through a range of top-down and bottom-up perspectives on masculinity in the region during the Russia-Ukraine war.

Sub Unit

• Gender/LGBTQ Studies

Chair

• Saara Maria Ratilainen, U of Tampere (Finland)

Papers

• Masculinity and Morality: Working-class Men and the Politics of Recognition in Russia - Charlie Walker, U of Southampton

• Imperial Adjustments: Performing Russian Masculinity in the Context of the Russia-Ukraine War - Marina Yusupova, Edinburgh Napier U (UK)

Discussant

• Stephen Charles Hutchings, U of Manchester (UK)