Thesis

What is left after they are gone? : A study of the "crisis of masculinity" in Bolivian men as an effect of their female partners migrating to Spain

Creator
Rights statement
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2010
Thesis identifier
  • T12690
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Over the past twenty years the study of masculinities has been vastly explored and LatinAmerica has produced a great quantity of research that has developed the construction ofmasculinities. This research explored the “crisis of masculinity” in Bolivian men as a resultof their female partners migrating to Spain, in order to improve their economic situation.Furthermore, in order to grasp the contested concept (“crisis of masculinity”), Connell?shegemonic model of masculinity was used as theoretical background.The high flow of Bolivian women migrants has signified that a vast percentage of their malepartners who have stayed behind have had to adopt new tasks and roles within the household.In this study the men interviewed have taken over domestic chores, as well as taking chargeof their families? wellbeing and having to balance domestic life with their working and sociallife. This situation has brought upon changes in their family structure, which have had animpact in the way they perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others (i.e. theirpeer groups, their female partner abroad, their children, neighbours?, among others).Therefore, this study strived to gain insight on how “the crisis of masculinity”, as aconsequence of changes in the family structures, constructs and guides the way Bolivian menconsolidate their masculinity and how this changes. In order to achieve this, the methodologyundertaken was qualitative research that used semi-structured interviews.The uniqueness and usefulness of this study resides in the fact that this is perhaps the firststudy that explores the field of migration and family sensitivities in Bolivia and, therefore,fills in a gap in Bolivian research and hopes to provide a stepping point for furtheringresearch in the area.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2010
Former identifier
  • 820082

Relations

Items