Bangladeshi masculinities between Italy and motherland

Dr Andrea Priori

In Bangladesh, as well as everywhere else, gender is not given but it is a political issue that generates heated debates and different concepts of the sex-gender system. Despite this fact, representations of “Bangladeshi masculinity” often stress a mono-dimensional model based on the dichotomy “dominant male-submissive female”. The seminar is grounded on ethnographic research into migrations from Bangladesh carried out between 2007 and 2016 in Rome and partly in Dhaka and Narayanganj, and aims to illustrate the variety and fluidity of Bangladeshi masculinities starting from the deconstruction of the idea of “Islamic masculinity” and from a reconsideration of the role performed by western scholars and NGOs in defining this concept. The ethnographic data show a clear gap between a model of “hegemonic” masculinity and the daily social practices of the men, highlighting a complex interplay among different styles of masculinity and drawing attention to the impact of migration on gender relations and roles.

Member of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, Dr. Andrea Priori teaches in the Master in Public Anthropology in the University “Roma Tre”. He specializes in anthropology of migration, social, political and urban anthropology, and anthropology of gender. His research activities are based in Italy (Rome) and partly in Bangladesh (Dhaka, Narayanganj). His main interests include transnational migrations, politics of identity and immigration policies, migrants’ self-organization, and bio-politics. Since 2007 he has been carrying out ethnographic fieldwork on Bangladeshi migration toward Italy. He researched the politics of the Bangladeshi community in Rome, its associations, its relationship with the welfare system, gender relations and Bangladeshi masculinities, Bangladeshi transnationalism, housing problems and migrants’ work trajectories, and racist attacks against Bangladeshi migrants.