Connell, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz and author of Gender and Power, has been a longtime leader of the effort to bring the study of men and masculinities into social theory and research. This collection of articles articulates Connell's critical, feminist perspective on the nature of masculinities. Part One concerns the historical treatment of masculinity as an object of knowledge. Connell discusses the development of what he calls the “science” of masculinity within psychoanalytic theory, clinical practice, and social research. Next, he considers the place of men's bodies within social research and the attempt to develop a social science of gender. He concludes this section by outlining a theoretical framework for studying masculinities utilizing a relational approach attuned to issues of hegemony, power, and oppression. Part Two consists of empirical field- study analysis of the dynamics of masculinity. This section is based on life-history