Masculinities - Softcover

R W Connell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745614698 ISBN 13: 9780745614694

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers, 1995

Synopsis

Masculinities offers a comprehensive introduction to, and a remarkable synthesis of, a new field of knowledge and politics. It examines and assesses the history of attempts to create knowledge of the nature of masculinity by psychoanalysts, social scientists, and movements for social change. Connell argues that, while the goal of a science of masculinity is mistaken, we can gain fresh ways of thinking about men's bodies and men's involvement in a gendered world. There is not "one" masculinity, but multiple masculinities, which can be understood through a social analysis of gender relations. Contemporary developments in masculinities are examined through a close focus on the lives of four groups of men, interviewed especially for this study, who are undergoing different experiences of change - some working to transform gender relations and some resisting change. Their trajectories towards and away from hegemonic masculinity are traced in detail; some of these accounts are highly amusing while some are tragic. After this detailed analysis of the lives of particular men, Masculinities moves to a larger arena, and shows that modern masculinities are products of a 400-year history in which gender was closely connected with empire and the creation of a global economy. New forms of politics about masculinity have recently emerged. The final sections of the book examine these new forms as they have occurred in Western countries, including the currently fashionable "masculinity therapy", and discuss how men can pursue social justice in a gendered world.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

FROM THE PREVIOUS EDITION:

"Clearly written and sophisticated, this book presents Connell's ideas about males and the social phenomena that interact with gender." Choice

"Connell’s book is the fundamental study on masculinity as a formative factor on modern social inequality, and also of the most important books in the social sciences in recent years." Journal for the Study of British Cultures

"A wonderful book; engagingly written, broadly researched, and politically useful. It is certainly one of the best of the recent, to use Connell's witty phrase, 'books about men.'" Australian Journal of Political Science

From the Back Cover

"Bob Connell is the most fertile, astute and influential analyst of the myriad and messy meanings of masculinities on the planet. "The Men and the Boys boldly extends the scope, depth and power of the foundational work he laid in Masculinities to address the most urgent and difficult questions about global gender and injustice of our time. Dare I label it a heroic work?" --Judith Stacey, author of "Brave New Families

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745614698
• ISBN 13: 9780745614694
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280