Countering Militarised Masculinities: A Structural Approach to Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace - Dean Peacock

What are militarised masculinities, and how are they influencing the many current conflicts around the world, including the US and Israel’s war against Iran? What are the main drivers of men’s involvement in armed conflict? And what does it mean to mobilise men for feminist peace? In this episode Dean Peacock reflects on the issues that underpin structural and interpersonal violence in our multi-polar world. Whilst it is important to focus on patriarchal norms and pressures around masculinities, he argues that other factors – such as economic interests, the arms industry, resource extraction, land dispossession, state repression, corruption, colonialism, inequality and poverty – are also critical and need to be addressed in the pursuit of peace-building. Drawing on his work and that of colleagues, particularly at WILPF (the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), he examines how these forces contribute to conflict in countries across the Middle East, Ukraine and parts of Africa, and what needs to be done in response.As Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Gun Violence and Health, and co-leader of the newly launched Global Coalition for WHO Action on Firearm Violence, Dean also unpicks the ways in which firearms and gun violence link to men and masculinities, including through marketing practices and the video games industry. He identifies too the significance of alcohol abuse and alcohol marketing in fuelling interpersonal violence, in South Africa and many other countries.We conclude by talking about Dean’s personal journey through this work, from his early involvement in activism for peace and equality through campaigning against apartheid in the 1980s, to some of the early profeminist campaigns and movements engaging with men about violence prevention and gender equality in the US, South Africa, and internationally.Based in Cape Town and Los Angeles, Dean has worked for over three decades to advance gender equality, violence prevention, and health equity. Alongside his current roles, he was Director of the WILPF’s ‘Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace’ initiative. He is the co-founder and former Executive Director of Sonke Gender Justice, a leading international NGO based in South Africa, and co-founder and former Global Co-Chair of the MenEngage Alliance. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s School of Public Health, a Visiting Fellow at the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Gender Centre, and an Affiliated Scholar at the University of San Diego’s Kroc School of Peace Studies. His writing has been published widely in books, academic journals, and global media outlets.Read Dean’s publicationsFollow him on LinkedInEpisode timeline:The importance of a decolonial approach (02:52-05:27)Making sense of the surge in war and militarism (05:27-12:56)The role of militarised masculinities in conflicts such as the war on Iran (12:56-17:12)The drivers of men’s involvement in armed conflicts (17:12-27:46)How work with men can address structural forces (27:46-37:30)BreakAddressing the firearms industry and its exploitation of gender norms (37:40-47:40)Dean’s personal journey through this work (47:40-54:48)Should ‘transforming masculinities’ be our end goal? (54:48-59:10)Conclusion (59:16-01:07:19)More info:‘Gender Equality and Men: Lessons from Practice’, edited by SandyThe Khoisan peopleMobilising Men for Feminist Peace podcast‘Evolving Alliances: Men and Women – Access to Land, Gender Relations and Conflict in Anglophone Cameroon’, by Lotsmart FonjongPete Muller PhotographyACOOC, Colombia‘A more generous embrace: Why addressing the needs of adolescent boys and men is essential to an effective humanitarian response in Cameroon’s North West and South West’, by Delphine BrunDr David Duriesmith – researcher on militarised masculinitiesWhat Works to Prevent Violence Against WomenDiepsloot, Johannesburg‘Rethinking Primary Prevention’, by Jess Hill and Prof Michael SalterProf Mark Bellis – researcher on the commercial determinants of violenceDr Roger StahlWHO Respect FrameworkWHO Inspire FrameworkDr Jackson KatzDr Finn MackayRay Acheson‘Against Masculinity’, by Nathan RobinsonBerta Cáceres‘If….’, by Lindsay AndersonMusic: 'Now is time', courtesy of Chaps' Choir and Dom Stichbury. Please note that the transcript is a rough estimation and is likely to contain errors - please do not reproduce it without permission.