Joseph Gelfer

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Joseph Gelfer
Born1974
Southampton, England
NationalityBritish
EducationBA Hons, University of Bristol, PhD, Victoria University, New Zealand
Occupation(s)Researcher in religion and masculinities, academic editor and coach
Notable workNumen, Old Men: Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy, 2012: Decoding the Countercultural Apocalypse

Joseph Gelfer (born 1974) is a British author and academic. He is noted for his academic analysis of spiritual and religious topics and masculinity. His book 2012: Decoding the Countercultural Apocalypse (which brought together scholarly analyses of the end of the world phenomenon from anthropology, Mayan studies, religious studies and cultural studies) attracted considerable media attention.

Contents

Gelfer is the founding and current editor of Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality, creator of the Future Masculinity online course and Director of Masculinity Research.

Early life and education

Gelfer was born in 1974 in Southampton, England.[ citation needed ]

He has a BA Hons from University of Bristol [ citation needed ] and a doctorate in religious studies from Victoria University of Wellington (2008). [1] His thesis was titled Numen, Old Men: contemporary masculine spiritualities and the problem of patriarchy. [2]

Academic research and professional positions

Joseph Gelfer is a lecturer and tutor at Université Catholique de l'Ouest. [3] He has had concurrent careers in research in religion and masculinities and in academic editing and coaching. He has held positions as Adjunct Research Associate at the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University, [4] Honorary Research Associate at University of Divinity, Melbourne, [5] as editorial specialist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and an assistant editor at the University of London. [3]

The book derived from his doctoral thesis, Numen, Old Men: Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy (Equinox Publishers, 2009) proposed that masculine spirituality tends to perpetuate a patriarchal spirituality, and that gay spirituality and queer theory can be a useful way to think about masculinities for all men, gay or straight. He has published extensively on how masculinity functions in contemporary society and, more specifically, in contemporary religion. He proposes that by questioning the social construction of masculinity in the everyday it is possible to create a more equitable and sustainable society.

2012: Decoding the Countercultural Apocalypse

Leading up to and during 2012 Gelfer received media attention [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] surrounding the publishing of his book 2012: Decoding the Countercultural Apocalypse which brought together scholarly analyses of the end of the world phenomenon from anthropology, Mayan studies, religious studies and cultural studies. The book examined the "merits and demerits of cultural appropriation" and "the lack of consensus between different scholars and the inconsistent goals of different disciplines." [11] Gelfer's aim in writing the book was "to strike some balance between visionary and critical thinking" [12] and he was criticised by members from the skeptical, catastrophist, conspiracy and spiritually inclined communities for his non-partisan views. [12] [13] His proposition from the book's analysis was that no physical event would occur but "that people [would] realise the changes they dearly wish to see in the world will not come from some cosmic source, but rather instead political agency and social activism. And that, ironically, may result in 2012 being a catalyst for a shift in human consciousness, exactly as the prophets predicted." [7] [13]

Other writing

In addition to his academic work, Gelfer has also been active in social commentary publishing articles about such wide-ranging topics as psychedelic substances within a spiritual context, [14] [15] [16] the commercialisation of spiritualities, [17] child discipline, [18] open access publishing [19] and teetotalism. [20] He has also published a number of travel articles [21] [22] [23] [24] and a book of Latrinalia called The Little Book of Toilet Graffiti (which according to Gelfer was simply a fund raising exercise and was followed by The Little Book of Student Bollocks and The Little Book of Office Bollocks). [25]

The Five Stages of Masculinity

InformitTV interviews

In 2012 Gelfer undertook a number of interviews on a variety of topics published through InformitTV.

Books

Articles

Academic articles

Journal articles

Chapters in books

Encyclopedia entries

Reviews

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thealogy</span> The study and reflection upon the feminine divine from a feminist perspective

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David Deida is an American author who writes about the sexual and spiritual growth of men and women. His ten books have been published in 25 languages. He conducts spiritual growth and intimacy workshops and is one of the many founding associates at the Integral Institute. He has conducted research and taught classes at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Lexington Institute in Boston, San Jose State University and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. He is the author of numerous essays, articles, and books on human spirituality including The Way of the Superior Man, Finding God Through Sex, and Blue Truth and the autobiographical novel Wild Nights.

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Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality (JMMS) is a free, online, scholarly, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, open access journal about men's studies. JMMS was established 2007, and is published twice a year with provision for other special editions. JMMS was founded by Joseph Gelfer who remains the executive editor.

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References

  1. ↑ "Joseph Gelfer". The Conversation. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Te Waharoa – gelfer". tewaharoa.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 16 February 2016.[ dead link ]
  3. 1 2 "Joseph Gelfer | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Joseph Gelfer". The Conversation. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Honorary Researchers". University of Divinity. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "The end of days is coming, but Christmas is not". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Episode One Hundred And Forty Eight – On Apocalypse (Now?) 2012 – Interview With Dr Joseph Gelfer". Token Skeptic. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "2010 | TheAtheist.net". atheism.quantechsolutions.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Brimbank Council wants pokie numbers cut – Star Weekly". Star Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Sociology of Religion – TASA". TASA. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Whitesides, Kevin (1 January 2012). "Review of 2012: Decoding the Countercultural Apocalypse". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 16 (1): 110–113. doi:10.1525/nr.2012.16.1.110. JSTOR   10.1525/nr.2012.16.1.110.
  12. 1 2 "2012: Between Critical and Visionary Thinking – Reality Sandwich". Reality Sandwich. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  13. 1 2 Gelfer, Joseph (2 January 2012). "2012 cometh: how to prepare for the apocalypse". The Conversation. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Gelfer, Joseph (2012). "Entheogenic Spirituality and Gender in Australia" (PDF). Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  15. ↑ Gelfer, Joseph (2010). "Towards a Sacramental Understanding of Dextromethorphan: A Research Story" (PDF). Entheogenesis Australis Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Gender, Sexuality and Psychedelic Spirituality. ~ Joseph Gelfer". Elephant Journal. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  17. ↑ Gelfer, Joseph (October 2010). "LOHAS and the Indigo Dollar: Growing the Spiritual Economy" (PDF). New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry. 4 (1): 48–60. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Smacks of denial - On Line Opinion - 5/8/2013". On Line Opinion. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  19. ↑ Gelfer, Joseph (June 2009). "Editorial: Open Access Economics". Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality: 97–99. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  20. ↑ "The Teetotal Consciousness Shift -". The Good Men Project. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  21. ↑ "Pology Magazine – Adventures in Travel and World Culture – Climbing the Old Man: The Vanuatu Volcano". pology.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  22. ↑ "Perceptive Travel – I Remember Adlestrop". perceptivetravel.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  23. ↑ "Travelmag – A cynic in a sweat lodge: can heat win him round? – Travelmag". travelmag.co.uk. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  24. ↑ "Exquisite Corpse – A Journal of Letters and Life". corpse.org. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  25. ↑ Gelfer, Joseph (14 August 2011). The Masculinity Conspiracy. Joseph Gelfer. p. 65. ISBN   9781463781705.
  26. ↑ "Services". masculinityresearch.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
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