Masculinities, law and crime

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief overview of the history and development of masculinity theorising and research on men and masculinities within the context of the related disciplines of law and criminology. In each field, it considers how masculinity has been conceptualised and approached, identifying key themes and concerns and drawing on examples from masculinities scholarship in law/legal studies and crime. The chapter pays particular attention to the way masculinity has been studied in these disciplines, identifying differences between jurisdictions (for example, common law and civil law) and emerging ideas that, within an international frame such as this collection, cast new light on the interconnections between men, gender, law and crime. Considering men as men, as gendered subjects and not ‘taken for granted’ genderless figures, the chapter suggests that recent work seeking to ask the law’s ‘man question’ has much to offer the study of men and masculinities; at the same time, legal scholarship itself has much to gain from a closer engagement with the study of masculinities, leading to new ways of thinking about men, power and dominance within a global frame.