Andrea Chiovenda, "Crafting Masculine Selves: Culture, War, and Psychodynamics in Afghanistan" (Oxford UP, 2019)

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast · Oct 27, 2020 · 1h 2m

Against the backdrop of four decades of continuous conflict in Afghanistan, the Pashtun male protagonists of this book carry out their daily effort to internally negotiate, adjust (if at all), and respond to the very strict cultural norms and rules of masculinity that their androcentric social environment enjoins on them. Yet, in a widespread context of war, displacement, relocation, and social violence, cultural expectations and stringent tenets on how to comport oneself as a "real man" have a profound impact on the psychological equilibrium and emotional dynamics of these individuals…