Contesting Masculinities is a significant contribution towards understanding a diversified masculinity in the context of the Kashmir conflict. Drawing on diverse theoretical constructs, and backed with rich ethnographic field notes and observations, Agarwal has produced a compact treatise worthy of engagement.

Contemporary South Asia

Few books have the ability to say something new about intractable conflict. Contesting Masculinities and Women’s Agency in Kashmir not only provides novel analysis of conflict in Kashmir, but it does so while also fundamentally enriching our understanding of how masculinities operate. With careful attention to detail, Amya Agarwal shows the varied ways that manhood is attached to militancy through time and challenges the tired accounts of violence that treat gender as a synonym for women. By reading this book, the reader will not only understand how masculinities fuel conflict but also how they relate to vulnerability, joy, and love. This book will shift the way conflict is understood.

David Duriesmith, University of Sheffield

Amya Agarwal should be applauded for moving away from the normative gender analyses of the Kashmir conflict so far. Through extensive fieldwork, she documents men and women’s agency in the Kashmir conflict by focusing on the multiple contesting masculinities shaped by class, religion, and location. This is a must read for all Kashmir watchers, gender studies and politics students, and all those who care about empathy and nuances in a world full of binaries and certitudes.

Swati Parashar, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

The book is an important addition to the scholarship on Kashmir’s conflict, especially in the area of masculinities. It further uses a combination of decolonial, feminist and ethnographic frameworks to understand gender in a conflict zone. It is based on multi-sited fieldwork and brings in data and findings from multiple stakeholders, which makes it richer. The book is going to be useful for researchers working in the field of international relations, sociology, anthropology, gender studies and Kashmir studies.

Doing Sociology

[This] book is an essential read on the Kashmir conflict, as it contributes significantly to the scholarship on Kashmir, particularly masculinity studies, an area which has thus far remained under-researched. As an ethnographic study, the book has engaged multiple stakeholders in Kashmir, taking its cue from the theoretical insights from various conflict zones as well as from feminist approaches and critical masculinity studies, making it a rich resource for scholars across multiple disciplines.

International Quarterly for Asian Studies