Current Trends and Challenges for Research

In October last year I changed jobs and universities after twenty-one years. As such, this is probably a good time to re-evaluate trends and challenges in research. Indeed looking back, it is often possible to discern patterns of change of which we were not aware at the time.

Over the last twenty-one years, and especially since 1978, my research has been mainly directed towards developing critical studies on Men and Masculinities. Since the late 1980s, the main focus has been on men’s violence to known women; in particular this has involved interviewing men about their violence and studying the responses of criminal justice and other agencies to that violence.

I have also worked since the late 1970s with colleagues on a range of related issues around gender and sexuality in organisations and management. Increasingly, I can recognise the coming together of my work on men and my work on organisations.

So what are the trends and challenges - both in the field of Critical Studies on Men and Masculinities and in my own work?