“Petro-masculinity” names the contemporary convergence of nostalgic attachments to fossil fuels and the aggressive defense of patriarchal orders. Coined by the American political philosopher Cara New Daggett in 2018, two years into the first Trump presidency, the term responds to the ways climate denialism and hypermasculine performance have become defining elements of new authoritarian movements. This evening opens a conversation about the underlying forces linking authoritarian desire, patriarchal power, and fossil-fuel culture. What role do fossil fuels play in the production of cultural values and gendered social relations? Why is car culture so often tied to the objectification of women? What historical developments link the combustion of fossil fuels to images of masculinity? And how does this connection shape right-wing backlash against climate policy, renewable energy, and gender studies? Petro-masculinity suggests that energy transition also requires a reckoning with toxic gender relations, reminding us that energy systems are always also cultural systems. Much has happened since the concept's coinage in 2018. We want to explore how it resonates in the present moment, how it translates beyond the United States, and how it helps us confront the cultural dimensions of contemporary energy regimes.

Guests:

Cara New Daggett, is a political philosopher whose research explores energy and ecological politics through an intersectional feminist framework. She is an affiliate faculty member in political science at Virginia Tech and the author of the award-winning book The Birth of Energy: Fossil Fuels, Thermodynamics, and the Politics of Work. Currently, she is a fellow at the Futures of Sustainability Centre at the University of Hamburg.

Moderator: Dr. Moritz Ingwersen, Junior-Professor of North American Literature with a focus on Future Studies, Dresden University of Technology