Buen Vivir as fertile soil for ecological masculinities: learning from gardening men in Cali, Colombia

Though the last decade has seen an increased attention to masculinities and environmentalism and the ways in which a deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity can be mutually supportive with care for nature, the discussion has been largely theoretical. Little empirical work has ventured into analysing examples of such masculinities in practice, even less so in Global South contexts where marginalised men are at the forefront of environmental activism. What aspects of these men’s lives, including but not limited to their environmental activism, nourish promising alternatives? In what ways does this challenge hegemonic masculinity? This article addresses these questions through life histories of nine men engaged in the Network of Agroecological Gardens of Cali (Colombia), drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and secondary sources. I contend that the influence of values grounded in Buen Vivir as an alternative to development offers working-class men alternative visions of the future grounded in relations of care and reciprocity for human and non-human beings. This in turn proves to be a decisive factor in fostering ecological, counter-hegemonic masculinities.