Professor Kopano Ratele

Psychologist & Scholar of Men & Masculinities Studies, Academic & Global Thought Leader

Meet Professor Kopano Ratele

Kopano Ratele is a professor in the Institute of Social and Health Sciences (ISHS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and researcher in the Violence, Injury & Peace Research Unit. He runs the Research Unit on Men & Masculinities and the Transdisciplinary African Psychologies Programme. He was a professor at the University of Western Cape in the Department of Psychology and in Women & Gender Studies. He has also been co-director of the South African Medical Research Council-UNISA Violence, Injury & Peace Research Unit and President of the Psychological Society of South Africa (2009-2010). He chaired the board of Sonke Gender Justice, a South African non-governmental organisation working across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence, and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS. He is best known for his work on issues of identity, violence, sexuality, and masculinity. He has an extensive list of scholarly articles, books, and presentations delivered around the world. He has edited and co-edited the books From Boys to Men: Social Construction of Masculinities in Contemporary Society and Inter-Group relations: South African Perspectives. His latest book is There was this goat, co-authored with Nosisi Mpolweni and Antjie Krog. He is editor-in-chief of African Safety Promotion: A Journal of Injury and Violence Prevention and books editor of the South African Journal of Psychology.

Book Review: Why Men Hurt Women and Other Reflections on Love, Violence and Masculinity

This book seeks to imagine the possibility of a more loving masculinity in a society where structural violence, failures of government and economic inequality underpin much of the violent behaviour that men display.