Citation

Collier R. J. Law Soc. 2001; 28(4): 520-545.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1467-6478.00201

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article seeks to unpack the way in which a constellation of ideas around what it means to speak of ‘good fatherhood’ has come to inform a series of debates, after the election of the New Labour government in 1997, around the content and contours of paternal responsibility. Via a focus on family law and recent developments around the idea of ‘work-life’ balance, it discusses the concepts underpinning present debates. In questioning the still-powerful (if frequently unspoken) influence of social constructionist ideas of sex/gender, it explores and question how men's ‘family practices’ have been understood.