Population ageing, the retreat of the state in care provision, and massive rural-to-urban middle generation migration in developing countries have resulted in a global care crisis. Existing research on this problem has drawn attention to the significant impact of gender norms in shaping the dynamics of the care crisis and how the care crisis has reinforced gender inequalities. However, perhaps because care has traditionally been viewed as feminine and thus the domain of women, existing research on the care crisis has paid insufficient attention to men and masculinity, despite the fact that men should be and could be important carers both in the familial and welfare contexts. Based on Choi’s extensive research on the impact of rural to urban migration on men’s gender roles within the family, particularly their care roles to their accompanying children, and their left-behind children and stay-behind elderly parents, this proposed visiting professorship addresses the links between masculinity and care, tackling men’s subjective preferences and perceptions about their care role, as well as cultural and structural barriers hindering men in performing more care work, and the strategies individual men and their families have deployed to overcome these barriers and remediate the care crisis.
Visiting Professor is Susanne Yuk Ping CHOI.
Professor Rachel Murphy is the OSGA academic responsible for coordinating the visit.
