Gendering War and Peace: Militarized Masculinities in Northern Ireland

There has been extensive academic analysis of Northern Ireland’s ethno-nationalist antagonisms. However, academic literature that has explored both the region’s ethno-nationalist conflict and its more recent processes of conflict transformation has neglected the concept of masculinities. This article employs the framework of critical studies of men/masculinities to analyze why men’s gendered identities have received so little attention in a society that is marked by deep gendered inequalities and also exposes the consequences of this neglect in terms of exploring gendered power relationships in Northern Ireland society. Additionally, the article employs the concept of militarized masculinities to explore the relationships between ethno-nationalist conflict, conflict transformation, men’s gendered identities, and gender power in the region.