A WHOLE NEW WORLD: Remaking Masculinity in the Context of the Environmental Movement

The impact of feminism on men has produced both backlash and attempts to reconstruct masculinity. The Australian environmental movement, strongly influenced by countercultural ideas, is a case in which feminist pressure has produced significant attempts at change among men. These are explored through life-history interviews founded on a practice-based theory of gender Six life histories are traced through three dialectical moments: engagement with hegemonic masculinity; separation focused on an individualized remaking of the self involving an attempt to undo oedipal masculinization; and a shift toward collective politics. This last and most important step remains tentative.