Transforming Masculinities: Interventions, Narratives, and Democratic Resilience

Abstract

This panel brings together research on how masculinities are actively shaped, challenged, and transformed through interventions, narratives, and institutional practices aimed at advancing gender equality and preventing gander-based violence and sexism. Focusing on boys and men in educational, community, and political contexts, the contributions address the growing concern around far-right mobilization among younger generations. Across the papers, evidence-based interventions in schools, social work, and community settings are examined alongside broader narrative and discursive strategies. The panel highlights how different approaches—ranging from participatory and agency-enhancing formats to constructive, solution-oriented narratives—seek to engage men who may otherwise feel alienated or defensive. At the same time, systematic evidence shows that effective interventions share key features such as contextual sensitivity, participation, and sustained facilitator capacity, while short-term or purely symbolic efforts are unlikely to produce lasting change. Beyond programmatic interventions, the panel also considers how masculinities are produced and contested within political and institutional discourse, particularly around care, fatherhood, and responsibility. Attention is given to deeper forms of engagement that move beyond symbolic support toward active disruption of patriarchal power structures, highlighting the tensions and risks involved in meaningful male participation in gender justice work. Taken together, the contributions offer a multi-level perspective on transforming masculinities, linking everyday practice, professional interventions, and institutional meaning-making to broader goals of gender equality, violence prevention, and democratic resilience.

Title	Details
Positive Narratives to inspire men and boys to thrive in a world of equality	View Paper Details
Transforming Masculinities for Democracy: A Systematic Review of Effective Interventions	View Paper Details
Fatherhood under debate. Feminist and antifeminist institutional discourses on masculinities, family, and care	View Paper Details
Assesing the effectiveness of masculinity interventions: top-down vs. bottom-up approaches	View Paper Details
Allies or Accomplices? Transforming Masculinity in the Fight for Gender Equality	View Paper Details