Standing firm against rising waters: men’s flood responses and climate imaginaries in a northern context

This article investigates how male property owners in flood-affected regions of Denmark respond to increasing climate change-related extreme flood events. Drawing on 39 qualitative interviews with walk-along elements, it explores how gendered flood risk management practices shape men’s ways of imagining climate change. Findings show that men were expected to assume primary roles as protectors against floods, emphasizing technical competence, localized solutions, and emotional restraint. The article connects this to another widespread tendency toward discursive and emotional distancing from broader climate concerns. Contrary to assumptions that direct experience with extreme weather fosters climate engagement, most participants maintained sceptical or emotionally distanced views. However, the study also finds signs of men’s flood responses unsettling system-stabilising norms of stoicism and techno-optimistic imaginaries, revealing tensions between lived experiences of floods and dominant narratives of control and climate resilience. The article illuminates how ecomodern masculinity as a Global North discourse is both reinforced and challenged through the gendered practices of the flood-affected men. The study argues that addressing climate inaction in high-emission societies requires not only improved policy and communication but also critical engagement with gendered emotional norms that are shaping climate futures. This includes the often ‘unmarked’ forms of Nordic middle-class hybrid masculinity that underpin climate adaptation practices and sustain dominant imaginaries of control and continuity.<br/><br/>