How do contemporary young people construct their sexual identities? Are young people sexually liberated, or is human sexuality increasingly controlled and manipulated by commercial forces? Thomas Johansson explores the construction of sexual identities by young people as part of a wider process of identity construction, combining the work of key authors such as Elias and Foucault with original and revealing empirical material drawn from an extensive survey of the views of 1300 sixteen to n...

This book provides a rich, multidimensional analysis of how prostate cancer is lived, treated, and perceived by different actors through the stages of care, rehabilitation, and recovery. Furthermore, it focuses on how side effects, such as urinary leakage and impotence, affects the construction of masculinity. Though the book foregrounds men treated for prostate cancer, it also includes the voices of partners and health care professionals, such as urologists, contact nurses, and sexual hea...

This book discusses and analyses the ways in which fatherhood is in transition in contemporary and globalized society. The authors identify and examine fathering practices in relation to hegemonic and marginal patterns of masculinity, the concept of heteronormativity and sexuality, and patterns of segregation, class and national differences. Contextualised in relation to theories of fatherhood and relevant statistics, Fatherhood in Transition presents rich empirical material gathe...

This book investigates how schools deal with racism and extremism, focusing on everyday life, students, and the surrounding community and geographical area.There is a lack of clarity on how racism and extremism should be managed in schools. Through extensive ethnographical data, interviews, and focus group interviews with students and school staff in mill towns and racist strongholds in Sweden, this book focuses on how racism and right-wing extremism are enacted, played out, and de...

This book offers an in-depth study of personal accounts of men and women who have at one time entered, participated in and ultimately exited the neo-Nazi movement, with a focus on advanced Western states.Through detailed stories of the movement’s violence, hatred, and ideology, coupled with narratives of the individuals’ life plans and dreams when entering the movement and reintegrating into society, the work provides knowledge, hope and new directions for readers to better underst...

This book provides the first comprehensive sociological study of the contemporary National Socialist movement in Sweden, including how it has developed since the 1990s until the present. It covers the ideas and political aspects of the movement, as well as the subjective and very personal stories told by young men and women who in some cases have left the movement and in others remained.Through a large number of detailed stories of the movement’s violence, hatred, and ideology, as ...

This book investigates extreme sports, defined as sports in which athletes challenge and transgress societal perceptions of what is humanly possible to achieve, in terms of physical training and bodily development/performance. Situated within a growing body of literature analysing the impact of new training trends on an individual’s body, identity, lifestyle and perception of his/her social surroundings, Extreme Sports, Extreme Bodies focuses on the gendered and embodied experienc...

In all periods of time, there is a perceived shortage of qualified, credible, and robust leadership skills. At the same time, what is regarded as skilled leadership is contingent on economic, political, institutional, and cultural conditions specific for a period of time or a local setting. Leadership in the era of managerial capitalism was focused on planning and administration, and was seated in large-scale, divisionalized corporations. In the 1970s, this economic model started to wane a...

This book provides an updated and fresh introduction to recent theoretical developments in youth studies. It expands upon these developments and introduces new discussions and perspectives. It presents three central theoretical traditions in youth studies, and explores the possibilities of redefining some of the central concepts, but also of combining different theoretical perspectives. After depicting the theoretical landscape of youth studies, the book explores generations and new subjec...

This book compiles several years of multi-faceted qualitative research on fitness doping to provide a fresh insight into how the growing phenomenon intersects with issues of gender, body and health in contemporary society.Drawing on biographical interviews, as well as online and offline ethnography, Andreasson and Johansson analyse how, in the context of the global development of gym and fitness culture, particular doping trajectories are formulated, and users come into contact wit...

The two 'Moulding Masculinities' volumes represent the first major publication in English of Northern European studies on masculinities. They focus on men’s relationships towards each other and their bodies, primarily from psycho-dynamic and social constructionist perspectives. The contributors are drawn from disciplines as diverse as sociology, social anthropology, media studies and sports sciences, and include scholars from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, The Netherlands, Germany, Aust...

Popular culture is awash with discussions about the difficulties associated with being a man. Television talk shows, media articles and government press releases discuss not simply the problem of men, but have more recently focused on the problems of being a man.The Conundrum of Masculinity challenges highly advertised beliefs that men are in crisis and struggling to hold onto traditional masculine habits whilst the world around them changes. Indeed, whilst there is a rang...