ABSTRACT
A key argument of this chapter is that we are experiencing a shift from the establishment of the social constitution of gender associated with modernity politics, to the gendering of society that has an intensified resonance among (heterosexual) men and women in a global-based, digital technological late modernity. This chapter begins with mapping out the research in the field, addressing influential theoretical frameworks, conceptual insights, methodological innovations and original empirical findings. The introductory section of the chapter builds on this earlier work, suggesting that gender relations are problematic, negotiated and contested within frameworks at individual, organisational, cultural, societal and global levels. The following sections address limitations of this earlier work, drawing upon an inter-disciplinary perspective, while synthesising new social movement work (second-wave feminism and gay/lesbian scholarship) with more recent sex/gender understandings (post-structuralism, queer and trans theory, postcolonialism). The concluding section argues that such developments can be used heuristically to inform the critical reflexiveness of future research in the area.
