Men in Crisis? Reflections on Masculinities, Work and Family in North-West Costa Rica

Abstract

Based on interviews with 80 low-income men conducted in the province of Guanacaste, northwest Costa Rica, this study explores men's relationships with work and family. The discussion highlights the causes of an emergent ‘crisis of masculinity’ among men in the region, and its interconnections with employment, gender and conjugal relationships. The main argument of the study is that, although to some degree ‘the family’ in Guanacaste has always been an unstable entity, and a source of stress for women and children, this is presently becoming a problem for men as well, whose traditional bases of power and identity in family units are being undermined by changes in the labour market, and by legislative and policy initiatives in women's interests. Men's current ‘crisis’ in Guanacaste is strongly tied to their loss of power within families, rather than the break-up of family units per se, and to the fact that decisions within and about households are increasingly being taken out of their own hands. The study concludes with pointers to the need for social policy to assist in creating space for new familial masculinities and more egalitarian and co-operative relations between men and women.