Men, Gender and Work in Dublin: Initial Findings on Work and Class.

One of the most important events in the development of sociology was the feminist critique of the ‘male’ sociological othorodoxy, and as we approach the millennium, the need for such a radical ‘sociology of gender’ remains. However, for the gender debate to be truly radical, sociology has to fully encompass the view that men need to be considered both empirically as well as theoretically. Indeed, whilst there have been great strides forward in the theoretical considerations of men, a comprehensive ‘empirical’ analysis of men is still required. This paper presents evidence on men’s lives in the Republic of Ireland. In the 1990s, the Republic of Ireland has experienced one of the most dramatic economic transformations in Western Europe. However, regardless of the size and longevity of such economic change, a sizeable part of the Irish population has not benefited from this economic success. Unemployment remains at around 11 per cent, of which seventy three per cent are men. Using data collected from 170 Irish men, during 1997 and 1998, this paper will contribute to the gender debate by outlining why an empirical consideration of men is important and by documenting and exploring how men experience working life and economic change in Ireland. An initial analysis of the data suggests that paid ‘formal’ employment is not important to Irish working class men