In August 2003, one of the largest wildfires in Canadian history struck near Kelowna, British Columbia and the surrounding Okanagan Valley, causing unprecedented damage. As Shelley Pacholok observes in this innovative study, the turbulence and extreme conditions that followed in the wake of this disaster destabilized an important area of social life – that of gender relations.

Into the Fire combines insights from gender studies and disaster studies to explore the extent to which notions of “masculinity” and “femininity” are challenged in the wake of crises. Pacholok focuses on how gender relations were simultaneously sustained and disrupted among those who fought the fire, drawing on media representations as well as interviews with firefighters . Into the Fire illuminates how disasters can serve as catalysts for new patterns of gender, even in highly masculine spaces.

Shelley Pacholok is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and History at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan.

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‘Pacholok’s analysis of how a high stakes natural disaster can spark uneven change in gender relations at work is novel, insightful, and thorough…. This book will be a valuable and engaging resource for scholars of gender, work, and the environment alike.’

American Journal of Sociology, vol 119:06:2014