Urban Masculinities in Praia: between Privilege, Subalternity, and Resistance

Authors

  • Silvia Stefani

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15167/2279-5057/ag.2017.6.11.397

Abstract

Based on an ethnographical research carried out in 2014, the essay investigates masculinities’ social constructions in the urban reality of Praia, capital city of Cape Verde, drawing from an intersectional and postcolonial perspective. The article draws attention to the influence of local colonial history on current intersections of stratification’s structures based on gender, class and color. Afterwards, the essay considers ongoing changes in this matrix of oppression concerning the experiences of black poor young men from the suburbs. Finally, the author claims the street organizations they create represent both an example of “protest masculinities” and a form of resistance against urban inequality.

 

Keywords: masculinities, intersectionality, colonialism, urban gangs, social activism, Cape Verde.

Author Biography

Silvia Stefani

Dottoranda in Scienze Sociali, curriculum sociologia all'UNiversità degli Studi di Genova.

Published

2017-05-27