Sociology Higher Seminars: Masculinity and Empire (Dr Marina Yusupova, Edinburgh Napier University)

We are pleased to announce the Sociology group seminar with Dr Marina Yusupova (Edinburgh Napier University).

Masculinity and Empire
Dr Marina Yusupova, Edinburgh Napier University

Wednesday 23 October, 2024, 13.15-15.00, 9D303
Zoom-link: https://kau-se.zoom.us/j/61194674179

Historical world empires were built and sustained through masculine ideals that valorize strength, dominance, control, capitalist entrepreneurship, and the conquering of new territories (Connell, 2014). What happens to these ideals, images, and imaginings in (post)imperial societies? How do historical narratives that justified and celebrated empire sound today and what role do they play in present-day politics, identities, aspirations, inequalities and injustices? How do the combined legacies of colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism shape masculinities in the global contexts and the practices of knowledge production in Critical Men and Masculinities Studies (CMMS)? These questions are the driving forces behind my research project on masculinity and empire. Drawing on longitudinal empirical research on post-Soviet Russian masculinities and the queer sociological approach that emphasizes global structures and transnational processes in the analysis of everyday social life (Jung, 2024; Moussawi and Vidal-Ortiz, 2020; Pascoe, 2018), I reflect on how thinking about masculinities with empire can transform the current practices of theorising in Critical MenandMasculinities Studies.

Short bio: I am a sociologist and gender scholar specialising in feminist thought, decolonial theory, and critical organisation studies. My current research agenda is situated within two fields: sociological research on global masculinities and interdisciplinary scholarship exploring the durability of empire and imperial violence in contemporary world. The central question driving my work is how local and global imperial imaginaries and discourses produce present-day politics, identities, aspirations, inequalities and injustices. With a long-standing research focus on post-Soviet Russia, I use the case of contemporary Russian masculinities and Russia’s ongoing colonialism to explore the life of imperial imaginaries and discourses in today’s world.