| Summary: | The thesis begins by arguing that there is a real absence of an empirical understanding of men in British 'gender based sociology'. This is established by exploring current debate within gender based sociology and by examining the extent to which the feminist critique of sociology has marginalised men in gender based research. The thesis then explores how men's lives and work are linked by examining gender theory and feminism. It is argued and concluded that men's identification with work has become a function of a social sex-ordered division resulting from both capitalist and patriarchal relationships. Such relationships are established and supported by men (actively as well as passively) and socialising agents such as family, church, state, professions, guilds and unions develop to protect men's position in paid public work. Men's recent experiences of the British labour market are then considered. It is concluded that two main trends are important in male employment. They are the general decline in male labour market participation and the overall decline in male full-time employment; and second, the growth in male non-standard employment forms such as part-time working. Finally, an empirical account of men's employment is provided by offering a secondary analysis of the National Child Development Study (1991). The data suggest that men's lives are far more complex (and less homogeneous) than originally thought. For example, men do experience different working forms, they do experience differing levels of education and training, men do have varied attitudes towards work and home, and experience health differently when compared to other men. The thesis concludes that men's experiences of work and employment need to be documented and brought back to the attention of the sociological researchers. What sociologists need to do now is further document the change in men's lives and the impact changes in working life has on men.
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