Why Examine Men, Masculinities and Religion in Northern Ireland?

Citation:

Brady, Sean. 2013. “Why Examine Men, Masculinities and Religion in Northern Ireland?” In Men, Masculinities and Religious Change in Twentieth-Century Britain, edited by Lucy Delap and Sue Morgan, 218-252. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Author: Sean Brady

Abstract:

Northern Ireland and especially the Troubles of 1968–98 have received considerable scholarly attention in recent decades. But in much of the scholarship, the centrality of religion and religious differences are elided. Also, questions of gender and masculinities barely exist in the historiography of Northern Ireland. Historians that claim to focus on ‘gender’ in reality focus on women and women's studies alone. Questions of masculinity and religion have the potential to offer fresh and incisive analyses of male pecking orders, male-only and male-dominated organisations along religious sectarian lines, and the fostering of competing sectarian hegemonies within the Northern Ireland state from its creation in 1921. The article maps out potentials for masculinities and religion as crucial sites of analysis in the troubled history of the province. (Palgrave Connect)

Topics: Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Religion Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: United Kingdom

Year: 2013