Crafting Masculine Selves
Culture, War, and Psychodynamics in Afghanistan
Andrea Chiovenda
Reviews and Awards
"This book offers a remarkable glimpse into the psychological lives of individual Pashtun men, achieving everyday masculinity at a time of extraordinary violence in Afghanistan. The book reframes our understanding of both Pashtun masculinity and the place of psychoanalytic interpretation in the practice of person-centered ethnography. A rare achievement pointing to new directions for psychological anthropology." -- Byron Good, Harvard University
"One of the most compelling examples of person-centered ethnography in recent years. Chiovenda uses his background in anthropology, psychoanalysis, and military culture and ethos to illuminate intimate aspects of the development and performance of masculinity in contemporary Afghanistan. An important contribution to the emerging study of cultural psychodynamics." -- Douglas Hollan, University of California, Los Angeles
"Enthralling ethnographic investigation of prolonged conflict and psychological dynamics when trained on masculinity. Essential reading for scholars of psychological life, psychoanalysis, and cultural meaning." -- Janis H. Jenkins, author of Extraordinary Conditions: Culture and Experience in Mental Illness
"Crafting Masculine Selves is a tour de force: Andrea Chiovenda provides psychodynamically sophisticated portraits of Pashtun men as they behave aggressively or avoid aggression in reaction to their community environments. There are unprecedented insights in this book." -- Robert A. LeVine, Harvard University
"In this impressive and challenging study, Andrea Chiovenda draws on extensive dialogues with a range of Pashtun men in Afghanistan to show how alternative masculine identities are constructed and transformed within their violent cultural and political milieu. His book not only gives the reader a deep understanding of the vicissitudes of masculinity in Afghanistan, it also provides a much-needed new paradigm for integrating contemporary psychoanalytic theory with ethnographic practice. It has the potential to be a game-changer for both fields." -- Charles Lindholm, Boston University