Fatherhood is on the political agenda in many countries, often cast in terms of crisis. One side of the policy debate focuses on fathers as deadbeat dads who do not provide financial support and care for their children. The other revolves around making men into active and engaged fathers. However, these policies are often at odds with the employers' reluctance to accommodate work schedules to fathers' needs. In Making Men into Fathers, prominent scholars in gender studies and the critical studies of men consider how varied institutional settings and policy logics around cash and care contour the possibilities and constraints for new models of fatherhood, determining the choices open to men. From different historical and societal perspectives, the authors provide insights into the studies of men as gendered subjects, including the role of transnational and global issues of fatherhood, and the emergence of men's movements, contesting and reimaging fatherhood.

‘It does … make an important contribution and will be a continuing asset. The paperback edition also has a wonderful cover picture. This is a photograph from a Swedish campaign promoting the new father in the 1970s. It shows a well-known weightlifter holding a baby. The weightlifter is smiling hesitantly, as if he had just discovered a new pleasure but was not sure if it was allowed. The baby is looking quite sceptical. Perhaps they are both right.’

Source: International Sociology