Men, masculinity, and community development in Kenyan slums

There is limited research on masculinity in relation to community development. Using ethnographic and interview data from two slums in Kenya and building on one of the more well-known definitions of community development, we explore men's narratives of themselves in relation to community development. We highlight how men's cognizance of the structural and contextual constraints to the development of their communities intersected with both a feeling that they have helped to hamper community development and an adamant sense of their own criticality and centrality in ensuring it. While repudiating the idea that they have to change in order for their community to progress, men also generally hinged community development on their tenacious pursuit of traditional masculinity scripts. The rejection of mainstream masculinity norms as the basis for community progress will not resonate consistently among men. Social and community development work with men that fails to acknowledge them as gendered people may not succeed.