Raewyn Connell

Raewyn Connell
Born	January 3, 1944 (1944-01-03) Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Other names	Robert William "Bob" Connell R. W. Connell
Occupation	Professor, University Chair, University of Sydney
Known for	Sociologist

Raewyn Connell (born 1944) (née Robert William "Bob" Connell, widely known as R.W. Connell) is an Australian sociologist. She is currently University Professor at the University of Sydney.

Profile

Educated at Manly and North Sydney High Schools, taking degrees at University of Melbourne and University of Sydney, she has held jobs at universities in Australia and the United States (Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University). She was an activist in the New Left of the 1960s, and when appointed Professor at Macquarie University was one of the youngest people ever appointed to an academic chair in Australia.

Connell became known for research on large-scale class dynamics ("Ruling Class, Ruling Culture", 1977 and "Class Structure in Australian History", 1980), and the ways class and gender hierarchies are re-made in the everyday life of schools ("Making the Difference", 1982).

She developed a social theory of gender relations ("Gender and Power", 1987), which emphasised that gender is a large-scale social structure not just a matter of personal identity. In applied fields she has worked on poverty and education ("Schools and Social Justice", 1993), sexuality and AIDS prevention, and labour movement strategy ("Socialism & Labor", 1978).

Connell is best known outside Australia for studies of the social construction of masculinity. She was one of the founders of this research field, and her book "Masculinities" (1995, 2005) is the most-cited in the field. The concept of "hegemonic masculinity" has been particularly influential and has attracted much debate. She has been an advisor to UNESCO and UNO initiatives relating men, boys and masculinities to gender equality and peacemaking.

Recently Connell has developed a sociology of intellectuals in the context of neoliberal globalization. Her latest book "Southern Theory" (2007) critiques the northern bias of mainstream social science, and surveys social theories that arise in the global periphery. Her current work concerns neoliberalism.

Connell's style of sociology tries to combine empirical research, structural theory, social critique, and relevance to practice. Much of her research uses biographical (life-history) interviewing. She has written or co-written twenty-one books and more than 150 research papers; her work is translated into 15 languages.

Raewyn Connell is a transgender woman, and changed her name from Robert William Connell. She remains widely known under the initials R.W. During her career, her works have appeared under several different name forms including Bob Connell, Robert Connell, Robert W. Connell, Robert William Connell, R.W. Connell, R. Connell and Raewyn Connell. Her famous book Masculinities appeared in a new edition in 2005 under the name R.W. Connell, but since 2007, her books have appeared under the name Raewyn Connell.

Selected bibliography

Year	Title	Publisher
1977	Ruling Class, Ruling Culture: Studies of Conflict, Power and Hegemony in Australian Life	Cambridge University Press
1980	Class Structure in Australian History   (Co-written)	Longman Cheshire
1982	Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division   (Co-written)	Allen & Unwin
1987	Gender and Power: Society, the Person and Sexual Politics	Allen & Unwin
1995	Masculinities	Allen & Unwin
2000	Male Roles, Masculinities and Violence: A Culture of Peace Perspective   (Co-edited)	UNESCO Publishing
2007	Southern theory : the global dynamics of knowledge in social science	Polity
2009	Gender : in world perspective	Polity