Reconceiving Muslim Men

Through anthropological accounts of Muslim men’s everyday lives in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and diasporic settings, Reconceiving Muslim Men explores the creative ways in which Muslim men care for and nurture their families and communities. By focusing on reproduction, love, and care, this volume showcases Muslim men’s humanity.

Marcia C. Inhorn is the William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology and Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. A specialist on Middle East gender, religion, and reproductive health issues, she is the author of six award-winning books, including The New Arab Man: Emergent Masculinities, Technologies, and Islam in the Middle East. She is also co-editor of this Berghahn Book series on Fertility, Reproduction, and Sexuality.

Nefissa Naguib is Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo. Much of her work has focused on rupture and displacement, particularly in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. She has written on memory and diaspora, food activism and the politics of water, and local responses to global crises. Current research centers on Syrian refugees arriving in Norway by way of the Arctic Circle. Her most recent monograph is Nurturing Masculinities: Men, Food, and Family in Contemporary Egypt.

Marcia C. Inhorn is the William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs in the Department of Anthropology and Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. A specialist on Middle East gender, religion, and reproductive health issues, she is the author of six award-winning books, including The New Arab Man: Emergent Masculinities, Technologies, and Islam in the Middle East. She is also co-editor of this Berghahn Book series on Fertility, Reproduction, and Sexuality.

“Reconceiving Muslim Men makes a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on Muslim men, an excellent companion volume to the more theoretical discussions of masculinity, which largely focus on Western contexts, and a useful reminder of the need to differentiate between discourse and practice in exploring gender issues more broadly.” • JRAI (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)

“…a significant, highly interesting, and at times heartbreaking book… One of this book’s many strengths is that it foregrounds the ways in which Muslim men are normal. Having to show that Muslim men are human, and stressing it to resist their demonization, is highly important and timely, given current political discourse.” • Medical Anthropological Quarterly

“This volume is an important correction to various types of literature, from within anthropology as well as from other disciplinary fields… it will become a significant contribution to the field of masculinity in general and to Muslim men in particular.” • Leif Manger, University of Bergen