Dan Guinness (Beyond Equality) - Working with Men and Boys for Gender Equality

For over 10 years, Beyond Equality have been engaging with young men in the UK to give them a chance to reflect on who they want to be, and how they can help create safer and more inclusive communities. This was originally through two different organisations: the Good Lad Initiative in universities and Great Men in schools. Since then they have become Beyond Equality, and now work with men and boys in a range of different settings and communities across the UK. Dan Guinness, the Managing Director, was one of the founders - he talks to us about the journey the organisation has been on, and what they have learnt about how to engage men and boys in transformative conversations about issues such as gender equality, relationships, violence against women, and mental health.

Dan has an academic background, holding a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oxford. He discusses with us some of the fascinating findings from his research on the links between sport, masculinity, global economic inequalities and neo-liberalism, and how this is embodied in the current Qatar 2022 men’s football World Cup. In addition, he explores the possibilities for healthy and inclusive environments to be created within sport, and his own powerful story of how he came to be involved in gender equality work.  

You can find out more about Beyond Equality at: https://www.beyondequality.org

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/beyond_equality
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyond_equality/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondequality1
• Follow Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danguinness/

We cover the following topics in this episode: 

• Dan’s personal journey of getting involved in issues of gender equality, masculinity and violence prevention
• The extent to which egalitarian, non-violent cultures can be created in sport
• How the rise of neoliberalism since the 1980s together with ‘breadwinner’ expectations have pressured young men in the Global South to become involved in professional sport
• How Beyond Equality started and has changed over time, and the work it’s doing now
• The importance of good quality facilitation in work with men and boys
• How Beyond Equality evaluate the impact of their work 
• Future plans, including a new project with Movember about men’s mental health and collective resilience (more info: https://www.beyondequality.org/blog-posts/announcement-collective-resilience-in-community-settings-project-funded-by-movember) 
• How debates in the UK about masculinity and violence against women have shifted in recent years, and what still needs to change at the policy level

More information:

• You can access much of Dan’s research here: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Daniel-Guinness-2126813915
• Besnier, N., Calabrò, D.G. and Guinness, D. (eds) (2021) Sport, Migration, and Gender in the Neoliberal Age. Abingdon: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Sport-Migration-and-Gender-in-the-Neoliberal-Age/Besnier-Calabro-Guinness/p/book/9781138390652
• Besnier, N., Guinness, D., Hann, M. and Kovac, U. (2018) Rethinking masculinity in the neoliberal order: Cameroonian footballers, Fijian rugby players, and Senegalese wrestlers. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 60(4): 839–872. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417518000312
• Jackson, D. (1990) Unmasking Masculinity: A Critical Autobiography. London: Unwin. https://www.routledge.com/Unmasking-Masculinity-Routledge-Revivals-A-Critical-Autobiography/Jackson/p/book/9781138808713