Working Group Transformation of Masculinities (WG TransforMen)

The working group TransforMen (Transformation of Masculinities) is an independent, interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional working group that was formed at the Network Gender Studies Switzerland and SAGS research workshop in September 2015 in Lausanne. Since then, the group meets about four times a year to discuss ongoing research projects and scientific literature. In addition, it undertakes various scientific projects:

In March 2018, the working group TransforMen organized, in collaboration with the University of St. Gallen, a colloquium entitled «Current diagnosis of masculinities in Switzerland». As a continuation of its discussions, the working group published a collective work in 2021 entitled «Zeitdiagnose Männlichkeiten Schweiz». It was published in open access by Seismo.

Our group of researchers with different institutional affiliations is committed to the discussion and promotion of critical research on men and masculinities in Switzerland. Since the 1980s, critical gender research has developed internationally as a specific research perspective within gender studies. It is concerned with the analysis of power and domination relationships between men and women, between men themselves, and the diversity of gender expressions.

The aim of the working group is to network different research on masculinities in Switzerland and to anchor and promote this field of research in Switzerland. The group works between the different types of universities (universities, HES, HEP) as well as with practical actors.

Research topics include the historical development of masculinities in Switzerland and their interaction with representations of democracy, the family, the state, the economy, or the army. Other topics of interests include the family, paid work and free time, the conciliation of family and professional life, old age, social work and social pedagogy, love and friendship relationships, and men in the financial sector.

It is possible to join the working group at any time.

Contact: Diana Baumgarten and Matthias Luterbach

Participants of the working group