Program 21.10.2011
Dorothee Frank, Moderation
Hegemony, Subordination, Complicity and Marginalization
According to Connell, hegemony, subordination, complicity and marginalisation mark the internal relations within gender roles. The second day of the conference will focus on the dynamics, conflicting fields and potentials of the internal gender relations. The diversity of male orientation patterns is expressed most clearly when different attitudes and conceptions of masculinity clash on the level of relational and negotiation processes.
Crisis of the tough guys
Did the “crisis of the tough guys” add to the differentiation of masculinities?
Work on men and masculinity issues as a contribution to gender democracy
What characterises critical work on men, regarding the diversity of male orientation patterns?
Lunch buffet 21.10.
Lunch buffet 21.10.
Men’s policy in Austria
Keynote address by Rudolf Hundsdorfer, Minister of Social Affairs, and discussion with politicians and experts.
Diversity as a factor during studies
Many programs aim at promoting women (men in some fields) in underrepresented programs. Gender-screenings show in which studies there is an imbalance between men and women. Many established associations and platforms aim at a fair balance. Diversity is the keyword of the 21st century at Austrian universities. The concepts of gender, handicap, ethnicity, migration, financial status, etc. increasingly preoccupy the protagonists in tertiary education.
But let’s ask a provocative question: Is all this necessary? Do we need more focus on diversity at universities? Do the students of today and tomorrow have to actively perceive these issues?
Invited Experts:
Uli Alker, FH Campus Wien (Diversity Officer)
Barbara Hey, Uni Graz (Coordinator Gender- and Women’s Studies, Frauenförderung) / Representative of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber or the Federation of Austrian Industries / Representative of “gendered” institutions (e. g. high number of women, like regional hospital – nursing)/ Provincial Government Member for Integration and Diversity.
Diversity as a factor during studies
Many programs aim at promoting women (men in some fields) in underrepresented programs. Gender-screenings show in which studies there is an imbalance between men and women. Many established associations and platforms aim at a fair balance. Diversity is the keyword of the 21st century at Austrian universities. The concepts of gender, handicap, ethnicity, migration, financial status, etc. increasingly preoccupy the protagonists in tertiary education.
But let’s ask a provocative question: Is all this necessary? Do we need more focus on diversity at universities? Do the students of today and tomorrow have to actively perceive these issues?
Invited Experts:
Uli Alker, FH Campus Wien (Diversity Officer)
Barbara Hey, Uni Graz (Coordinator Gender- and Women’s Studies, Frauenförderung) / Representative of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber or the Federation of Austrian Industries / Representative of “gendered” institutions (e. g. high number of women, like regional hospital – nursing)/ Provincial Government Member for Integration and Diversity.
Gender democracy – policy on men?
In addition to traditional life scripts, personal frustrations and right wing male politics, men ask new questions concerning gender democracy, face new challenges and develop new policies for men, fathers, children and families. Political discussions on dynamics, conflicting priorities and potentials in the relations within the order of sexes.
Divorced fathers – care, exclusion, fight, rejecting responsibility
Studies have confirmed that two years after their parents have seperated, 50% of the children concerned have no or very little contact to their fathers. The search for causes and backgrounds leads to fingerpointing either at “impeding mothers” or at “abandoning fathers”. We try to analyze the motives leading to these “individual drama” and relate them to different concepts of masculinity and family. We want to reveal attitudes and factors which foster the father-child-relationship.
aQUEERium - same water, different fish
For five years the youth group aQUEERium has existed in Graz/Styria, a group which has dedicated itself to providing space for young homo-, bi-, trans- and intersexual (in short, queer) people. Apart from organizing meetings for the target group, the aim of aQUEERium has always been to act as opinion-forming instance in society.
Next to media reports and public appearances, workshops are organized for young people at schools, with the aim of introducing adolescents to the concepts “queer” and “alternative love/life” directly at educational organizations. Within the context of the practical knowledge gained during these events, a discussion shall be encouraged serving the purpose of theorizing of why mostly boys and young men find it difficult to deal with subject matters such as homosexual and other alternative love and life concepts. Furthermore an attempt will be made to locate the inhibitions and dismissive patterns on the part of the adolescents. A further step shall lead the discussion to analyzing the means and approaches used by workshop contributors and practitioners that might be used to challenge the trend of general rejection.
Current issues in critical men’s studies
Representatives of critical men’s studies are invited to discuss the development of the thematic priorities in the field of critical men’s studies.
- What are critical men’s studies and their distinctive features?
- How can the role of men be discussed within the context of gender equality? (status-quo analysis)
- Can the concept of intersectionality be applied to the analytic discourse of hegemonial relations within the context of critical men’s studies?
Does gender reflecting work with boys need gender reflecting work with girls?
Girls’ and boys’ work require interchange, because women communicate images of men while men communicate images of women, images that shape girls and boys.
Theses:
- Boys’ work needs girls’ work, otherwise the impression arises that boys require extra support
- Boys’ work needs girls’ work, because encountering strong girls encourages boys to differentiate between images of girls
- Boys’ work needs girls’ work because strong girls can free boys from the pressure of having to be strong all the time.
Men as victims of abuse and sexual violence
Men who have suffered sexual violence during childhood claim to talk about their experience – owing to increased media attention - and try to cope with it.
- How can these men be supported? What are the victims’ wishes, what are their needs?
- What types of support, compensation, counseling/therapy can be helpful? (It’s not all about money)
- How can these issues be worked on successfully?
- Which settings, steps and methods are helpful for coming to terms in councelling and therapy?
Clash of masculinities or backdoor complicity? The socio-therapeutic work against violence and for relapse prevention.
The work of the Men’s Counseling Center Graz/Upper Styria with male youths and men who have been using violence or are still violent, is done ambulantly in a multidisciplinary department comprising social work (case management), psychology (clearing), and psychotherapy. In 2007 this work was extended to prison. The round table wants to highlight the expectations and models of masculinity in the interaction between workers, clients and institutions that are negotiated and established:
- Are the Connells concepts of hegemony (power), complicity, and subordination also established in the social interaction between workers and (forensic) clients?
- Which differences or similarities between masculinities are necessary in order to foster the social-therapeutic process?
Dealing with role models in intercultural youth work
Experience with youth counseling in Austria shows various dimensions of tension in the context of role models of young men and women. On the one hand due to the paradigm shift as a result of the breach of migration, which is still cemented in the collective conscience of the large majority of the Muslim world. On the other hand, the challenge of mainstream society which does question classical role models while at the same time enhancing them.
Which strategies and methods were successful in the areas mentioned above? How is the turning away from traditional role models perceived by the “Muslim community” as well as by Austrian society, respectively, which consequences can be derived from this?
Potentials of the diversity of masculinities
The plenum discusses areas of conflict as well as potentials of clashing conceptions and attitudes of masculinity.
Participants: Representatives from the round tables. Moderated by Thomas Gesterkamp
