Men, masculinities and social policy

This chapter surveys men’s presence, and sometimes absence, in social policy and the role of social policy in the construction, enactment and embodiment of men and men’s practices. There are numerous ways in which social policy concerns men and masculinities, in its formulation, implementation, delivery and inclusions/exclusions. Different men have variable relations to social policy, and are involved and implicated in social policy in a wide variety of ways, as users, family members, practitioners, managers, policy-makers, members of social organizations and so on. Likewise, the explicit gendering and naming of men is uneven in different social policy arenas. At the same time, social policies always at least partially reflect the specific societies within which they are located. Consequently, the chapter explores some comparative variations that occur across societies in the relationship of men with social policy. Such a comparative approach also highlights that a number of relatively enduring features of that relationship seem to exist across space and time. Finally, this discussion identifies some such as transnational policy development that impact upon gendered social policy configurations across many or most societies in a variety of ways.