ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an introduction to critical fatherhood studies, a field of research that has developed parallel with masculinity studies as such. Fatherhood studies emerge in various critical spaces, resulting in the current multifariousness of the scholarship. The discussion focuses on three strands of scholarship: social studies on men and masculinities; feminist cultural studies; and critical kinship studies. These are linked, respectively, to three salient issues in contemporary research: the notion of father presence; symbolic meanings of the father figure; and the parental legitimacy of fathers. Finally, I suggest some potentialities for the future of fatherhood studies.
