The ‘manosphere’ is a loose network of reactionary and anti-feminist male-centred communities spanning across a range of online fora and spaces. Responding to the currently limited focus on Western and English-speaking contexts, this talk aims to understand the ‘Indian manosphere’ and the political project that Himani Bannerji describes as “making India Hindu and male”. As the world’s largest ‘democracy’ with more than 65% below the age of 35, the study of the manosphere in this Global South context offers both continuities with, and points of disjuncture from, the existing Euro-centric literature on the subject.

In this seminar, we explore the educational role of the manosphere in India by calling attention to the pedagogies of self it employs to educate a ‘new’ Indian man. In our ongoing work using critical discourse analysis, we examine content produced by three prominent related YouTubers. We identify three pedagogies of self that enable these ‘manfluencers’ to model particular types of masculinity to their millions of followers online. We find that these pedagogies of self – whether linked to politics, work/careers, or broader notions of masculinity and femininity – are wedded simultaneously to the logics of neoliberal modernity, Hindu supremacy (Hindutwa), and authoritarianism.

About the speakers

Saba Hussain is an Assistant Professor of Education Studies at the Department of Education and Social Justice, University of Birmingham.

Marcus Maloney is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures, Coventry University