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Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives pp 1–21Cite as

Masculinity and Muslims: Contemporary Debates

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Abstract

Muslim men have long been viewed in the Western public imagination as either threat (as terrorist), patriarchal oppressor, or as “at risk” (of radicalization and subsequent participation in terrorism). Men in Muslim-majority nations have been construed in similar terms and beyond this have remained largely invisible in scholarship. However, the past two decades have seen an exponential growth in studies of Muslim masculinities that reveal deep insights into the social and historical forces shaping Muslim men and their subordination in broader power structures. The study of Muslim masculinities has emancipatory potential, casting a light on both structural discrimination and the daily lives of Muslim men as loving husbands, fathers, and contributing members of the community. This chapter commences by examining the growth of the new subfield of Muslim masculinities and the key theoretical frames that have shaped it, before engaging with the very broad literature on Muslim masculinities that has emerged in relation to Muslim men in both majority and minority contexts. The chapter concludes by considering future directions for research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Joshua M. Roose

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  1. Joshua M. Roose
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Correspondence to Joshua M. Roose .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, University of North Florida Dept of Sociology and Anthropology, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Ronald Lukens-Bull

  2. Arizona State University, TEMPE, AZ, USA

    Mark Woodward

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Roose, J.M. (2020). Masculinity and Muslims: Contemporary Debates. In: Lukens-Bull, R., Woodward, M. (eds) Handbook of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Lives. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_46-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73653-2_46-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73653-2

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