Click here to read the book review by Fay Weldon

What are the connections between men and masculinity on the one hand and peaceand war on the other? What are the best ways to change the traditional perception ofmasculinity to make it more favourable to peace? In what ways can we best educateboys and young men to embrace the spirit of a culture of peace? How shouldpeace-building strategies handle questions of masculinities? These are crucialquestions that have, until now, rarely been tackled.
The chapters in this book take as a point of departure the expert group meetingentitled 'Male Roles and Masculinities in the Perspective of a Culture of Peace', whichwas organized by UNESCO in Oslo, Norway in 1997. The objective of the meetingwas to pool the talents and energies of experts in this field to formulate practicalsuggestions for change from the deep-rooted patterns of the culture of war to agender-sensitive culture of peace.
The chapters vary from regional case-studies from three continents to
social-scientific research on the connections of traditional masculinity and patriarchyto violence and peace-building. The focus is on approaches that favour masculinepeace-building capabilities than those that dwell on destructive capacities. TheCulture of Peace initiatives in this book show how violence is ineffective, and thebook contests the far-too-frequent views in the socialization of boy-children thataggressiveness, violence and force are an acceptable means of expression and couldcontribute to sustainable solutions to conflicts. These initiatives point towards an exciting gender-balanced, post-patriarchal society for the next millennium.