The Creation of Hegemonic Masculinity in the Working Class in Malmö

Sammanfattning: Abstract Author: Björn Karlsson Title: The Creation of Hegemonic Masculinity in the Working Class in Malmö SIMV2130 credits Supervisor: Mats Beronius Lund University Department of Sociology Division; Sociology Spring, 2013 Problems/background: This paper revolves around understanding how hegemonic masculinity is created. It aims to develop theoretical tools to further understand masculinity and class. Objective: The objective of the thesis is to understand how hegemonic masculinity is discursively created in four interviews and archive material. Developing the theoretical tool of class composition is an important aim of the paper. Summary: This thesis investigates the creation of hegemonic masculinities within the working class in Malmö. Coupled with a Marxist postoperaist analysis it locates the creation of hegemonic masculinity through a discursive strategy. Interviews and archive material from the Family Right’s Bureau in Malmö, an agency handling custody cases, together form the material for the paper. Masculinity is analysed as a biopower concept and as fixed between positions of class, ethnicity and gender. Conclusion/result: The thesis shows how hegemonic masculinity is created through a position of power on the labour market that is entwined with gender and ethnicity. Hegemonic masculinity is supported by biopolitics to make up how it is the normal and the norm. It further concludes that the class composition concept must be expanded to integrate class and ethnicity.