Abstract
Within the field of development studies, there is a growing call for a more nuanced analysis of the nexus between gender and climate change. Nevertheless, within dominant feminist scholarship, critical analyses on the impacts, inequalities, injustices, and vulnerabilities created by climate variabilities on people gendered as men and boys are conspicuously limited. Given this, this essay argues for a more holistic and conceptually grounded rethinking of the nexus between climate change and constructions of masculinity. Such an approach allows us to think deeply about gender and climate change beyond focusing on the misimpression that women are the primary victims of climate change and hence should be the target for development interventions. To adequately address the vulnerabilities and impacts of climate change on women, this article contends that development policies and interventions must pay attention to men’s risks and vulnerabilities to climate-related stresses and how societal discourses of masculinity shape and mediate climate change mitigation and adaptation processes. There is an urgent need to critically engage men and masculinities as critical determinants in addressing the menace of climate change.
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Abubakari Ahmed was supported by Alexander von Humboldt Return Fellowship.
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Ahmed, A., Dery, I. Framing climate change and gender intersect from the perspective of masculinity. SN Soc Sci 2, 188 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00501-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-022-00501-w