Book Review
Stating emphatically in his opening line that “[t]he world is never static,” Errol Miller in his study Men at Risk offers revolutionary ideas about the status of men and women in a patriarchal Caribbean context. Acknowledging that we are constantly “living between eras,” Miller explores some of the social changes of American society, the then Soviet Union, and the Caribbean, as he rejects the compartmentalization that national, social, racial and class constructs engender. For him, these changes resonate from “beautiful reversals of patterns,” and waves of contradictions and confusions in a recent global realignment. In his work, he discusses the extent to which these changes are interconnected, how they affect men and their conventional social roles, and their impact on women. Miller concludes his discussion with an examination of social issues that “third-millennium humanity” must address and resolve as he encourages the reader to be proactive in shaping the future.
Miller argues that marginalization is not a primarily patriarchal construct where men dominate women, but rather a wider social phenomenon where men are also systematically brutalized and dominated by other men. Miller foregrounds his argument with an examination of social changes in American society that have affected the traditional position of males. The author cites various statistics which indicate that between the 1960s and 1980s, the gap between men and women’s educational levels closed, resulting in a corresponding increase in wages. In his analysis of this data, he suggests that the progress of white and black women in the workplace, and by extension in schools, could be the result of women being strategically used by the dominant patriarch to “block the progress of some men, particularly black men.”
Further, he argues that the social consequences for men who challenge the power structure is “downward social mobility, emasculation and exclusion from the material means of sustaining masculinity” through permanent dismissal from work. He contends that these dismissals create long-term changes in the structure of the family, as well as in traditional male/female roles. Wives are forced to seek employment, thus changing the traditional ideology of the male figure as the providing head of the household, and females as the conventional homemaker. Miller suggests that such alterations prove unbearable to the male/female relationship, resulting in the inevitable breakup of the family through divorce.
Further, he asserts that male marginalization has broader social consequences. In response to their decreasing traditional responsibilities and symbolic status, Miller posits that marginalized men often engage in deviant behaviour to otherwise assert their masculinity. Such deviance may take the form of domestic or sexual violence, self-destruction through the abuse of drugs and alcohol, crime, religious piety or revolutionary activity.
In order to understand this fundamentally male dilemma, Miller proposes an examination of how patriarchy was formed. He uses Max Weber’s explanation that essentially patriarchy comprised the rule of elder males over younger men, women, and children. From this definition, Miller stresses the idea that patriarchy was not developed initially as male domination over women, but, rather, as a process in which “collectivity,” kinship, age, and gender interacted to determine the succeeding patriarch. He suggests that males not protected by bonds of kinship have historically been marginalized. For him, patriarchy’s treatment of such men have always been “more brutal and harsh” than that of women in the same circumstances, yet this feature has strategically been ignored. Miller makes a bold suggestion therefore that in recent times, the basic tenet of the patriarchal mentality is such that if it is not possible to establish social dominance through assimilation, reconciliation and rationalization of opposing parties, then one party – the less dominant – must be expunged. He argues that it is this attitude which has brought humanity to the very brink of self-extermination.
However, Miller does not see the solution to these problems as being to simply “turn back the clock.” Rather, he proposes finding new means of coping with the new circumstances. For him, this means embracing a new social construct that he labels “personachy.” He argues that through emphasizing the individual rather than the group, humanity must be discovered in the constructive resolution of the tension between the pulls and the pushes of both poles. Further, resources, position, distribution of power, status and honour must be determined by the qualities of the person and not ascribed characteristics. Finally, he argues that through personachy, the individual would be an “earth person,” conceived and defined as human, eliminating the existence of a “non-person.” As a result, a global community would replace federations, nations, provinces, cities, towns, families and households. He defends his theory by stating that at the heart of his concept, personachy elevates the individual regardless of gender.
Undoubtedly, the author has proposed many unique, often, controversial ideas in his work, admitting at times his lack of evidence to support them. This lack of evidence, coupled with the problematic and provocative nature of his argument, though plausible, makes his study difficult to embrace wholeheartedly. However, this is not to suggest that Miller’s work should be summarily dismissed. In fact, whilst one may not be able to agree with the specific content of his work, his study should be valued and appreciated because of its depth of critical analysis, original and daring ideas, and seemingly deliberate will to go against the conventional, accepted discussions of patriarchy. His study is thus an ideal model for the budding Caribbean writer who desires to produce a distinct work of art.
The Physical Condition
The book is a second edition reprint. There are no markings of significance although it appears that a previous reader underlined pertinent interesting sections. Excerpts from the book are available online and many writers have referenced his work in their writings, often paralleling his arguments with those of feminists. The book appears to be in relatively good condition and it is completely intact and clean. There are graphs used to enhance the writer’s argument.
Miller, Errol. Men At Risk. Kingston: Jamaica Publishing House Ltd, 1991. 290p.
