The implications of critical studies on men

This article addresses the relationship of women's studies, gender research and men. In particular I ask the question: What are the implications of recent critical studies on men, for women's studies and gender research? I first outline some of the ways in which the social category of "men" has been taken for granted in the social sciences, and some of the broad features of critical studies on men. The implications of these studies are then examined, first in terms of the different political positions and discursive practices that may be adopted in studying men; second, the problematicizing and rethinking of research methods and methodologies; third, the kind of "results" of empirical research, and particularly the complexity of power relations; and fourth, the construction and possible transformation of academic disciplines - including women's studies, traditional malestream disciplines, and interdisciplinary work. The article concludes with a brief discussion of issues that need future attention: the close monitoring of critical studies on men; the naming of men as men and the deconstruction of men; the transformation of the relationship of men's subjectivity and objectivity; and the specific areas of study that have been neglected. Examples from research on men's violence to women, and research on men in organizations and management are used throughout.