Raewyn Connell – författare

I Om genus ger Raewyn Connell och Rebecca Pearse en översikt över och en introduktion till genusforskningens centrala frågeställningar. De ut­går från att genus är en nyckeldimension i vårt privatliv, våra sociala relationer och vår kultur. I denna livs­dimension ställs vi inför svåra praktiska problem som berör vår identitet, våra möjligheter till en rättvis behandling och under vissa omständigheter till och med vår överlevnad.

In Southern Theory Raewyn Connell presents the case for a new ‘world social science' - one that is inclusive of many voices - by arguing for a more democratic global recognition of social theory from societies outside the dominant European and North American metropole. Intellectual production of the majority ‘southern' world does in fact include theory, though its contribution is often marginalised and intellectually discredited by the metropole. Connell shows how social theory about the modern world from peripheral societies is equal in intellectual rigour and is often of greater political relevance to our changing world. Beginning with an examination of the hidden assumptions of modern general theory, Southern Theory looks to the ‘southern' social experience and the theories that have emerged from Australia, Indigenous peoples, Latin America, India, Africa, Islam and other post-colonial societies, as sources of important and vital contributions to world social science. These myriad theories offer valuable perspectives so crucial to the application of social theory in the contemporary world, having the power to transform the influence of the metropolitan hegemony on social thought by mutual regard and interaction. Southern Theory is a major new work in social theory, drawing on anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, economics and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for the social sciences in the 21st century.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?Raewyn Connell and Tristan Bridges – leading scholars of gender and inequality – answer these questions and more. Their updated revision provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all around the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender: In World Perspective provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell and Bridges show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The fifth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, offering new, close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, and "anti-gender" politics, gender-based violence, trans struggles, and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.Gender: In World Perspective moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

In recent years, questions about men and boys have aroused remarkable media interest, public concern and controversy. Across the world, health services are noticing the relevance of men’s gender to problems as diverse as road accidents, diet and sexually transmitted disease. Teachers are increasingly preoccupied with the poor educational performance of boys, and criminologists have begun to explore why men and boys continue to dominate the crime statistics. In this timely new volume, one of the world’s leading authorities on masculinity helps us to understand these developments, and make sense of the multiplying issues about men and boys. Five years on from the publication of the seminal study Masculinities, this book reflects on the growing social scientific research in this area. Connell assesses its strengths and weaknesses and explores its implications for contemporary problems from boys’ education and men’s health to international peacemaking. Written in a lively and accessible way, this book will be essential reading for all students of sociology, politics and gender studies, as well as anyone interested in the future of gender relations.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?

Raewyn Connell – one of the world''s leading scholars in the field – answers these questions and more. Her book provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all parts of the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell shows how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.

The fourth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, and offers new close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, gender-based violence, trans struggles and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.

Gender moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

Southern Theory presents the case for a radical re-thinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale.Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine.Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raul Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others.With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia's Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself.Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues?Raewyn Connell and Tristan Bridges – leading scholars of gender and inequality – answer these questions and more. Their updated revision provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all around the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender: In World Perspective provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell and Bridges show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The fifth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, offering new, close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, and "anti-gender" politics, gender-based violence, trans struggles, and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships.Gender: In World Perspective moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

This is an exciting new edition of R. W. Connell’s ground-breaking text, which has become a classic work on the nature and construction of masculine identity. Connell argues that there is not one masculinity, but many different masculinities, each associated with different positions of power. In a world gender order that continues to privilege men over women, but also raises difficult issues for men and boys, Connell’s account is more pertinent than ever before. In a substantial new introduction and conclusion, Connell discusses the development of masculinity studies in the ten years since the book’s initial publication. The book explores global gender relations, new theories, and practical uses of masculinity research. Looking to the future, a new concluding chapter addresses the politics of masculinities, and the implications of masculinity research for understanding current world issues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world, dominated by neo-conservative politics, Connell’s account highlights a series of compelling questions about the future of human society. This second edition of Connell’s classic book will be essential reading for students taking courses on masculinities and gender studies, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.

Trans people have been thrust into the spotlight in recent years across the world as never before. Trans groups have become targets of intense online abuse and hostile political and religious campaigns. The media abound with reports on a few glamorous trans women, or anti-trans attacks, but say little about the everyday realities of trans lives or their global diversity.In this book, Raewyn Connell, a world-leading sociologist and gender researcher, gathers the evidence and writes about the lives of trans women and men, hijra, travesti, and other groups around the world. She looks at the forces shaping trans lives, including medicine and its limitations, precarity and poverty, unequal gender relations, the role of sex work, and encounters with the state and the corporate economy. She discusses what is behind anti-trans campaigns, criticizing the simplistic idea that 'transphobia' explains these, and suggesting more potent causes. Finally, by exploring the creative ways trans groups have organized, she argues for the contribution they can and should make to solving our shared contemporary crises.Written in clear and vivid language, this book offers illuminating new perspectives on gender transitions, and on gender itself.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And what is the relationship between gender issues and globalizing concerns such as environmental change and economic restructuring?Raewyn Connell, one of the world''s leading scholars in the field, is here joined by Rebecca Pearse as they answer these questions and more. Their book provides a readable introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all parts of the world in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multi-dimensional character of gender relations, the authors show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations.The third edition of this influential and accessible book includes a whole new chapter on ecofeminism, environmental justice and sustainability. It also brings the review of research up to date throughout and explains new debates and emerging gender theories.Gender is engaged scholarship that moves from personal experience to global problems and offers a unique perspective on gender issues today.

In Southern Theory Raewyn Connell presents the case for a new ‘world social science' - one that is inclusive of many voices - by arguing for a more democratic global recognition of social theory from societies outside the dominant European and North American metropole. Intellectual production of the majority ‘southern' world does in fact include theory, though its contribution is often marginalised and intellectually discredited by the metropole. Connell shows how social theory about the modern world from peripheral societies is equal in intellectual rigour and is often of greater political relevance to our changing world. Beginning with an examination of the hidden assumptions of modern general theory, Southern Theory looks to the ‘southern' social experience and the theories that have emerged from Australia, Indigenous peoples, Latin America, India, Africa, Islam and other post-colonial societies, as sources of important and vital contributions to world social science. These myriad theories offer valuable perspectives so crucial to the application of social theory in the contemporary world, having the power to transform the influence of the metropolitan hegemony on social thought by mutual regard and interaction. Southern Theory is a major new work in social theory, drawing on anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, economics and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for the social sciences in the 21st century.

What does social equality mean now, in a world of markets, global power and new forms of knowledge?In Confronting Equality Raewyn Connell combines vivid research with theoretical insight and radical politics to address this question. The focus moves across family change, class and education, intellectual workers, and the global dimension of social science, to contemporary theorists of knowledge and global power, and the political dilemmas of today's left. Written with clarity and passion, the book proposes a bold agenda for social science, and shows it in action.Raewyn Connell is known internationally for her powerfully argued and field-defining books Masculinities, Gender and Power, Making the Difference, and Southern Theory. This new volume gathers together a broad spectrum of her recent work which distinctively combines close-focus field research and large-scale theory. It brings this to bear on those questions of social justice and struggles for change that have long been at the heart of her writing, and will have wide-ranging implications for the social sciences and social activism in the twenty-first century.'[This is] social science at its best: characterised by richly theorised empirical research, and carving out a place for a radically generative and engaged world sociology.' - Professor Michael A. Messner, University of Southern California

Southern Theory presents the case for a radical re-thinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale.Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine.Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raul Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others.With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia's Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself.Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century.

Painters have their Retrospective Exhibitions, poets their Selected Poems, chess masters their Best Games, singers their Greatest Hits. But a researcher? It seems bold, even vainglorious, to present my Greatest Hits and Best Games. So much of social science is collaborative, so much depends on organisations, networks, shared ideas and shared excitement. This book is not an autobiography, but it is a collection of work by one researcher over forty years. I hope to show by example how intellectual projects can develop, how different lines of thought can meet and weave. The collection is arranged in five sections, concerned with class structure, gender relations, the making of masculinities, the social dimension of education, and the global economy of knowledge. It includes some of my best-known writing and allows me to raise questions about change. These fields all involve questions of social justice. When I started out, I assumed that accurate knowledge and good understanding would support action for social justice. Sometimes that assumption was battered — at other times I could be more optimistic. Choosing the articles wasn't easy. It wasn't a matter of picking favourites. I wanted texts that would say something relevant to readers now, and texts that would show the development of a field through time. Unexpectedly, that meant a tilt towards theory. I mostly do theoretical work close to empirical studies, whether fieldwork or archival; I try to think in the presence of the data, so to speak. So here it is. It may or may not be my Best Games or Greatest Hits, but it is the best collection of my work. I hope it will be useful to anyone interested in how ideas develop, how social science is built, and what directions we might take intellectual work in the near future.

Painters have their Retrospective Exhibitions, poets their Selected Poems, chess masters their Best Games, singers their Greatest Hits. But a researcher? It seems bold, even vainglorious, to present my Greatest Hits and Best Games. So much of social science is collaborative, so much depends on organisations, networks, shared ideas and shared excitement. This book is not an autobiography, but it is a collection of work by one researcher over forty years. I hope to show by example how intellectual projects can develop, how different lines of thought can meet and weave. The collection is arranged in five sections, concerned with class structure, gender relations, the making of masculinities, the social dimension of education, and the global economy of knowledge. It includes some of my best-known writing and allows me to raise questions about change. These fields all involve questions of social justice. When I started out, I assumed that accurate knowledge and good understanding would support action for social justice. Sometimes that assumption was battered - at other times I could be more optimistic. Choosing the articles wasn't easy. It wasn't a matter of picking favourites. I wanted texts that would say something relevant to readers now, and texts that would show the development of a field through time. Unexpectedly, that meant a tilt towards theory. I mostly do theoretical work close to empirical studies, whether fieldwork or archival; I try to think in the presence of the data, so to speak. So here it is. It may or may not be my Best Games or Greatest Hits, but it is the best collection of my work. I hope it will be useful to anyone interested in how ideas develop, how social science is built, and what directions we might take intellectual work in the near future.

This book is an important introductory textbook on sexual politics and an original contribution to the reformulation of social and political theory. In a discussion of, among other issues, psychoanalysis, Marxism and feminist theories, the structure of gender relations, and working class feminism, Connell has produced a major work of synthesis and scholarship which will be of unique value to students and professionals in sociology, politics, women's studies and to anyone interested in the field of sexual politics.Visit www.raewynconnell.net

In recent years, questions about men and boys have aroused remarkable media interest, public concern and controversy. Across the world, health services are noticing the relevance of men’s gender to problems as diverse as road accidents, diet and sexually transmitted disease. Teachers are increasingly preoccupied with the poor educational performance of boys, and criminologists have begun to explore why men and boys continue to dominate the crime statistics. In this timely new volume, one of the world’s leading authorities on masculinity helps us to understand these developments, and make sense of the multiplying issues about men and boys. Five years on from the publication of the seminal study Masculinities, this book reflects on the growing social scientific research in this area. Connell assesses its strengths and weaknesses and explores its implications for contemporary problems from boys’ education and men’s health to international peacemaking. Written in a lively and accessible way, this book will be essential reading for all students of sociology, politics and gender studies, as well as anyone interested in the future of gender relations.

What does social equality mean now, in a world of markets, global power and new forms of knowledge? In this new book, Raewyn Connell combines vivid research with theoretical insight and radical politics to address this question. The focus moves across gender equality struggles, family change, class and education, intellectual workers, and the global dimension of social science, to contemporary theorists of knowledge and global power, and the political dilemmas of today's left. Written with clarity and passion, this book proposes a bold agenda for social science, and shows it in action. Raewyn Connell is known internationally for her powerfully argued and field-defining books Masculinities, Gender and Power, Making the Difference, and Southern Theory. This new volume gathers together a broad spectrum of her recent work which distinctively combines close-focus field research and large-scale theory, and brings this to bear on those questions of social justice and struggles for change that have long been at the heart of her writing, and will have wide-ranging implications for the social sciences and social activism in the twenty-first century. Visit www.raewynconnell.net

What does social equality mean now, in a world of markets, global power and new forms of knowledge? In this new book, Raewyn Connell combines vivid research with theoretical insight and radical politics to address this question. The focus moves across gender equality struggles, family change, class and education, intellectual workers, and the global dimension of social science, to contemporary theorists of knowledge and global power, and the political dilemmas of today's left. Written with clarity and passion, this book proposes a bold agenda for social science, and shows it in action.Raewyn Connell is known internationally for her powerfully argued and field-defining books Masculinities, Gender and Power, Making the Difference, and Southern Theory. This new volume gathers together a broad spectrum of her recent work which distinctively combines close-focus field research and large-scale theory, and brings this to bear on those questions of social justice and struggles for change that have long been at the heart of her writing, and will have wide-ranging implications for the social sciences and social activism in the twenty-first century.Visit http://www.raewynconnell.net/

What does social equality mean now, in a world of markets, global power and new forms of knowledge? In this new book, Raewyn Connell combines vivid research with theoretical insight and radical politics to address this question. The focus moves across gender equality struggles, family change, class and education, intellectual workers, and the global dimension of social science, to contemporary theorists of knowledge and global power, and the political dilemmas of today's left. Written with clarity and passion, this book proposes a bold agenda for social science, and shows it in action.Raewyn Connell is known internationally for her powerfully argued and field-defining books Masculinities, Gender and Power, Making the Difference, and Southern Theory. This new volume gathers together a broad spectrum of her recent work which distinctively combines close-focus field research and large-scale theory, and brings this to bear on those questions of social justice and struggles for change that have long been at the heart of her writing, and will have wide-ranging implications for the social sciences and social activism in the twenty-first century.Visit http://www.raewynconnell.net/

This book is an important introductory textbook on sexual politics and an original contribution to the reformulation of social and political theory. In a discussion of, among other issues, psychoanalysis, Marxism and feminist theories, the structure of gender relations, and working class feminism, Connell has produced a major work of synthesis and scholarship which will be of unique value to students and professionals in sociology, politics, women's studies and to anyone interested in the field of sexual politics.Visit www.raewynconnell.net

In recent years, questions about men and boys have aroused remarkable media interest, public concern and controversy. Across the world, health services are noticing the relevance of men’s gender to problems as diverse as road accidents, diet and sexually transmitted disease. Teachers are increasingly preoccupied with the poor educational performance of boys, and criminologists have begun to explore why men and boys continue to dominate the crime statistics. In this timely new volume, one of the world’s leading authorities on masculinity helps us to understand these developments, and make sense of the multiplying issues about men and boys. Five years on from the publication of the seminal study Masculinities, this book reflects on the growing social scientific research in this area. Connell assesses its strengths and weaknesses and explores its implications for contemporary problems from boys’ education and men’s health to international peacemaking. Written in a lively and accessible way, this book will be essential reading for all students of sociology, politics and gender studies, as well as anyone interested in the future of gender relations.

The higher education industry might seem like it’s booming, with over 200 million students in universities and colleges worldwide and funds flowing in like never before. But the truth is that these institutions have never been unhappier places to work. Corporate-style management, cost-cutting governments, mobilisations by angry students and strikes by a disgruntled workforce have taken their toll — in almost every country around the world. It’s no wonder that there is talk of ‘universities in crisis.’But what should a ‘good university’ look like? In this inspiring new work, Raewyn Connell asks us to consider just that, challenging us to rethink the fundamentals of what universities do. Drawing on the examples offered by pioneering universities and educational reformers around the world, Connell outlines a practical vision for how our universities can become both more engaging and more productive places, driven by social good rather than profit, helping to build fairer societies.

Vivid narratives, fresh insights, and new theories on where gender theory and research stand today Since scholars began interrogating the meaning of gender and sexuality in society, this field has become essential to the study of sociology. Gender Reckonings aims to map new directions for understanding gender and sexuality within a more pragmatic, dynamic, and socially relevant framework. It shows how gender relations must be understood on a large scale as well as in intimate detail.The contributors return to the basics, questioning how gender patterns change, how we can realize gender equality, and how the structures of gender impact daily life. Gender Reckonings covers not only foundational concepts of gender relations and gender justice, but also explores postcolonial patterns of gender, intersectionality, gender fluidity, transgender practices, neoliberalism, and queer theory. Gender Reckonings combines the insights of gender and sexuality scholars from different generations, fields, and world regions. The editors and contributors are leading social scientists from six continents, and the book gives vivid accounts of the changing politics of gender in different communities.Rich in empirical detail and novel thinking, Gender Reckonings is a lasting resource for students, researchers, activists, policymakers, and everyone concerned with gender justice.

Vivid narratives, fresh insights, and new theories on where gender theory and research stand today Since scholars began interrogating the meaning of gender and sexuality in society, this field has become essential to the study of sociology. Gender Reckonings aims to map new directions for understanding gender and sexuality within a more pragmatic, dynamic, and socially relevant framework. It shows how gender relations must be understood on a large scale as well as in intimate detail.The contributors return to the basics, questioning how gender patterns change, how we can realize gender equality, and how the structures of gender impact daily life. Gender Reckonings covers not only foundational concepts of gender relations and gender justice, but also explores postcolonial patterns of gender, intersectionality, gender fluidity, transgender practices, neoliberalism, and queer theory. Gender Reckonings combines the insights of gender and sexuality scholars from different generations, fields, and world regions. The editors and contributors are leading social scientists from six continents, and the book gives vivid accounts of the changing politics of gender in different communities.Rich in empirical detail and novel thinking, Gender Reckonings is a lasting resource for students, researchers, activists, policymakers, and everyone concerned with gender justice.

How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And how is gender entwined in global politics and debates over trans issues? Raewyn Connell and Tristan Bridges leading scholars of gender and inequality answer these questions and more. Their updated revision provides a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all around the world, in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender: In World Perspective provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multidimensional character of gender relations, Connell and Bridges show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures, and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations. The fifth edition of this influential book brings the statistical picture of gender inequalities up to date, offering new, close-focus case studies of gender research. Like previous editions, it examines gender politics and global power relations, but with added discussion around contemporary issues of intersectionality, populism, and "e;anti-gender"e; politics, gender-based violence, trans struggles, and environmental change. It also speaks at the intimate level, about embodied gender and personal relationships. Gender: In World Perspective moves from personal experience to global problems, offering a unique perspective on gender issues today.

Trans people have been thrust into the spotlight in recent years across the world as never before. Trans groups have become targets of intense online abuse and hostile political and religious campaigns. The media abound with reports on a few glamorous trans women, or anti-trans attacks, but say little about the everyday realities of trans lives or their global diversity.In this book, Raewyn Connell, a world-leading sociologist and gender researcher, gathers the evidence and writes about the lives of trans women and men, hijra, travesti, and other groups around the world. She looks at the forces shaping trans lives, including medicine and its limitations, precarity and poverty, unequal gender relations, the role of sex work, and encounters with the state and the corporate economy. She discusses what is behind anti-trans campaigns, criticizing the simplistic idea that 'transphobia' explains these, and suggesting more potent causes. Finally, by exploring the creative ways trans groups have organized, she argues for the contribution they can and should make to solving our shared contemporary crises.Written in clear and vivid language, this book offers illuminating new perspectives on gender transitions, and on gender itself.

Trans people have been thrust into the spotlight in recent years across the world as never before. Trans groups have become targets of intense online abuse and hostile political and religious campaigns. The media abound with reports on a few glamorous trans women, or anti-trans attacks, but say little about the everyday realities of trans lives or their global diversity.In this book, Raewyn Connell, a world-leading sociologist and gender researcher, gathers the evidence and writes about the lives of trans women and men, hijra, travesti, and other groups around the world. She looks at the forces shaping trans lives, including medicine and its limitations, precarity and poverty, unequal gender relations, the role of sex work, and encounters with the state and the corporate economy. She discusses what is behind anti-trans campaigns, criticizing the simplistic idea that 'transphobia' explains these, and suggesting more potent causes. Finally, by exploring the creative ways trans groups have organized, she argues for the contribution they can and should make to solving our shared contemporary crises.Written in clear and vivid language, this book offers illuminating new perspectives on gender transitions, and on gender itself.

What does social equality mean now, in a world of markets, global power and new forms of knowledge?In Confronting Equality Raewyn Connell combines vivid research with theoretical insight and radical politics to address this question. The focus moves across family change, class and education, intellectual workers, and the global dimension of social science, to contemporary theorists of knowledge and global power, and the political dilemmas of today's left. Written with clarity and passion, the book proposes a bold agenda for social science, and shows it in action.Raewyn Connell is known internationally for her powerfully argued and field-defining books Masculinities, Gender and Power, Making the Difference, and Southern Theory. This new volume gathers together a broad spectrum of her recent work which distinctively combines close-focus field research and large-scale theory. It brings this to bear on those questions of social justice and struggles for change that have long been at the heart of her writing, and will have wide-ranging implications for the social sciences and social activism in the twenty-first century.'[This is] social science at its best: characterised by richly theorised empirical research, and carving out a place for a radically generative and engaged world sociology.' - Professor Michael A. Messner, University of Southern California