EP 61 - Inside the Discord Servers Reshaping Masculinity

In this interview, Caroline Hayes, Senior Technical Specialist on Digital Strategies at Equimundo, describes how authoritarian actors exploit men and boys’ struggles such as loneliness, economic anxiety, and a sense of lost identity to advance anti-feminist and anti-democratic politics. She draws on Equimundo's research and the LinkUp Lab initiative to offer concrete strategies for reaching men and boys where they are online, and for building the kind of social connection that makes them less, not more, susceptible to those who would weaponize their grievances. In this special subseries of Who Belongs? from the (En)Gendering Authoritarianism project, we speak with individuals and groups at the forefront of this work. Each interview offers an inside look at how they navigate the political and cultural terrain — what approaches they use, what they've learned, and what gives them optimism for continued action. This series is hosted by Míriam Juan-Torres and Laura Livingston. Learn more about the (En)Gendering Authoritarianism project at: https://belonging.berkeley.edu/engendering-authoritarianism