Managerial Masculinities in the Australian Sugar Industry
Barbara Pini
School of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD
PP: 22
Abstract
This paper examines the gendered identity work undertaken by managerial men in the agri-political group CANEGROWERS.
It is argued that the most common form of managerial masculinity practiced by men in the organisation is that of paternalism. When this style of leadership is ineffective, male managers deploy a more authoritarian form of managerial masculinity. A range of illustrations of the way these gendered masculine identities manifest themselves in the practice of leadership in CANEGROWERS is provided in the paper.
The final section of the paper considers why paternalism and to a lesser extent, authoritarianism, are privileged in CANEGROWERS when the literature reports these configurations of managerial masculinity have largely been replaced by other forms of managerial masculinity in contemporary organisations.
References
Alston, M 1995, Women on the land: The hidden heart of rural Australia, UNSW Press, Kensington.
Bonanno, H 1998, ‘Unity is the key to a strong organisation' Australian CANEGROWER, vol 20(10), p 8.
Brandth, B & MS Haugen 2000, ‘From lumberjack to business manager: masculinity in the Norwegian forestry press', Journal of Rural Studies, vol 16, pp 343-355.
Charles, N & CA Davies 2000, ‘Cultural stereotypes and the gendering of senior management', The Sociological Review, vol 48(4), pp 542-567.
Collinson DL & J Hearn 1994, ‘Naming men as men: Implications for work, organization and management', Gender, Work and Organization, vol 1(1), pp 2-22.
Collinson, DL & J Hearn 1995, ‘Men managing leadership? Men and women of the corporation revisited', International Review of Women and Leadership, vol 1(2), pp 1-24.
Collinson, DL & J Hearn 1996, ‘Breaking the silence: On men, masculinities and managements', in Men as managers, managers as men, DL Collinson & J Hearn (eds), Sage, London, pp 1-24.
Connell, RW 1995, Masculinities, Allen and Unwin, St Leonards.
Connell, RW 2000, The Men and the Boys, Allen and Unwin, St Leonards.
Haslam-Mackenzie, F 1998, ‘Rural women's suffrage: An outcome report from a centennial of women's suffrage award', paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Women in Leadership, Edith Cowan University, Perth.
Hildebrand, C 2002, Independent Assessment of the Sugar Industry, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia, Canberra.
Kerfoot, D & D Knights 1993, ‘Management, masculinity and manipulation: from paternalism to corporate strategy in financial services', Britain Journal of Management Studies, vol 30(4), pp 659-677.
Kerfoot, D & D Knights 1996, ‘The best is yet to come? The quest for embodiment in managerial work', in Men as managers, managers as men, DL Collinson & J Hearn (eds), Sage, London, pp 78-98.
Liepins, R 1998, ‘The gendering of farming and agricultural politics: A matter of discourse and power' Australian Geographer, vol 29(3), pp 371-388.
Liepins, R 2000, ‘Making men: The construction and representation of agriculture based masculinities in Australia and New Zealand', Rural Sociology, vol 65(4), pp 605-620.
Lincoln, YS & EG Guba 1990, ‘Judging the quality of case study reports', Qualitative Studies in Education, vol 3(1), pp 53-59.
Maile, S 1995 ‘The gendered nature of managerial discourse: The case of a local authority', Gender Work and Organization, vol 2(2), pp 76-87.
McDowell, L 2001, ‘Men, management and multiple masculinities in organizations', Geoform, vol 32, pp 181-198.
Mitchell, G 2000, ‘The new look industry', paper presented at the Australian Sugar Convention, Succeeding Today and Here to Stay, Cairns, QLD.
Pini, B 2002a, ‘Focus groups, feminist research and farm women: Opportunities for empowerment in rural social research', Journal of Rural Studies, vol 18(3), pp 339-351.
Pini, B 2002b, ‘The exclusion of women from agri-political leadership: A case study of the Australian sugar industry', Sociologia Ruralis, vol 42(1), pp 65-76.
Pini, B 2003a, ‘Feminist methodology and rural research: reflections on a study of an Australian agricultural organisation', Sociologia Ruralis vol 43(4), pp 418-433.
Pini, B 2003b, ‘Strategies for increasing women's representation in agricultural leadership', Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management vol 9(1), pp 66-79
Pini, B (forthcoming), ‘On being a nice country girl and an academic feminist: Using reflexivity in rural social research', Journal of Rural Studies.
Qualitative Solutions and Research 1999, NUD*IST VIVO for qualitative research, La Trobe, Melbourne.
Reed, R 1996, ‘Entrepreneurialism and paternalism in Australian management: A gender critique of the ‘self-made' man', in Men as managers, managers as men, DL Collinson & J Hearn (eds), Sage, London, pp 99-122.
Sachs, C 1990, Gendered fields: rural women, agriculture, and environment, Westview Press, Boulder.
West, C & DH Zimmerman 1987, ‘Doing gender', Gender and Society, vol 1, pp 125-151.
Whitehead, S 1999, ‘From paternalism to entrepreneurialism: The experience of men managers in UK postcompulsory education', Discourse vol 20(1), pp 57-72.
Whitehead, SM 2002, Men and Masculinities, Polity, Cambridge, UK.
eContent Home
