Work & Class

Discrimination against women in public sector organisations has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. While much of this literature acknowledges the structural basis of gender inequality, strategies for change are often focused on anti-discrimination policies, equal employment opportunities and diversity management. Discriminatory behaviour is often individualised in these interventions and the larger systems of dominance and subordination are ignored. The flipside of gender discrimination, we argue, is the privileging of men. The lack of critical interrogation of men’s privilege allows men to reinforce their dominance. In this paper we offer an account of gender inequalities and injustices in public sector institutions in terms of privilege. The paper draws on critical scholarship on men and masculinities and an emergent scholarship on men’s involvement in the gender relations of workplaces and organisations, to offer both a general account of privilege and an application of this framework to the arena of public sector institutions and workplaces in general.

Citation: Flood, M., and B. Pease. (2006). Undoing Men’s Privilege and Advancing Gender Equality in Public Sector Institutions. Policy and Society, 24(4): 119-138.

This report from the Catalyst series "Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives" examines men's support of gender initiatives in their workplace. This include ways to increase men's awareness of gender bias and the associated costs, factors that encourage men to lend their support to gender initiatives, and barriers that prevent them from supporting such initiatives.

To talk about class we can't help but think of revolution, solidarity and uprising. Nick Sellars considers why the men's movement should be a revolution every man can join in. Even the owning class.

Are all "real men" the same? Mike Leach explores the relationship between work, class and masculinity.

A gender lens helps us to make sense of acts of terrorism by men, both domestic and international.

Nick Sellars takes a look at the lives of the invisible men - working-class gay men.