“Transnational Bachelorhood: An Ethnography of Singledom among migrant men in the European Union” and “Masculinity and suicide”

The aim with the proposed sabbatical is to write up two book projects. The projects, “Transnational Bachelorhood: An Ethnography of Singledom among migrant men in the European Union” and “Masculinity and suicide” are the outcome of investigations funded by the Swedish Research Council, and the region of Värmland. The proposal also outlines how a research cooperation between the Center for gender studies at KAU and the Women and Gender Studies Program and the department of Sociology and Anthropology at TAU will benefit from the sabbatical.

The aim of the project "Transnational Bachelorhood" has been to investigate contemporary transnational bachelorhood, within the European community. The project that stretches over the period 2019-2023, have collected 70 interviews in combination with ethnographic observation and other relevant data concerning questions around masculinity, bachelorhood, singledom, kin and family networks.

The rationale for the second book project 'Masculinity and suicide’ is to understand the gendered mechanisms of suicide. The background is the overrepresentation of men in the suicide statistics, and that a number of different factors related to masculinity, mental health and suicide are underdiagnosed. In two studies, we have interviewed 40 siblings, friends, and professionals that encounter suicide in their professional practice.

The aim with the sabbatical is also to facilitate for inter-generational knowledge exchange between KAU and TAU.