'Did the earth move?' - The hazards of bringing men and masculinities intogender and development

This article offers a critical review of the new 'masculinities' literature in the light of the continuing dominance of patriarchal relations in socie ty and development institutions. It argues that this necessarily challenges accepted understandings of sex/gender in GAD, representing bath risk and o pportunity. 'Masculinity' is at present a highly ambiguous, multi-purpose t erm, which needs to be more sharply defined if it is to be of analytical us e, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. The identification of the study of masculinity with the study of men needs to be broken. Bringing men in m ust not mean replacing a focus on women with a focus on men, but a genuinel y integrated and relational approach. This should include locating gender w ithin broader dimensions of power and social difference, and recognising it s symbolic as well as material aspects.