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Health inequalities continue to be a pressing issue for governments and communities in the Western developed nations. Recent evidence continues to highlight the prevalence of inequities in morbidity (experience of illness over the lifecourse) and mortality (death rate) and suggest that, despite significant improvement in health and wellbeing for large sections of populations, their continues to be a gap between the health of the most affluent and the poorest. These discussions are particularly pertinent to the UK, which, as Professor Marmot (2010) has documented in detail in his recent report, continues to experience significance health inequalities which are largely the outcome of differentials in socioeconomic status. It is the strong recommendation of the Marmot report, and one that we would echo, that reduction in health inequalities can only be achieved by addressing their fundamental causes, as opposed to the diseases through which they are manifest at any given time, or their immediate antecedents. This fact explains both the persistence of health inequalities over time and the failure of policies which only target their immediate manifestations to have any lasting impact. Fundamental causes include; unequal distribution of power, money, resources and social status.

Contemporary forms of precarity, migration, connectivity, and sociality have transformed what it means to be a man in many African communities. Responding with agency and creativity to various incentives and constraints, Africans have adapted practices pertaining to labour, marriage, and sexuality to the exigencies of modern life amid the impacts of European colonialism, rapid urban growth, economic hardship, and political conflict. Drawing upon ethnographic and historical research to study settings in East, West, and Southern Africa, the articles in this special issue review the social changes that have taken place regarding men's roles and assess prospects for the emergence of counter-hegemonic masculinities.

Examples of public policies in four domains are presented that are useful in understanding policies around masculinity in Latin America: a) childrearing and childcare; b) the field of men's health; c) addressing and preventing male violence; and d) sexual diversity. The purpose of this is to illustrate the current state of policies around masculinity in the region. Progress has been made in terms of such policies and programs, although this is still an emerging field with much work remaining toward achieving gender equality.

"This book explores how the traditional ideal of Chinese manhood, the fragile scholar hero of "wen" as superior to the "wu" of marital prowess, has been transformed by increasing integration of Chinese men into global culture. It discusses how increased travel and contact with the West, where "wu" figures are a more significant ideal, are shifting the balance and prompting a hybridisation of Chinese cultural norms, whilst emphasis on wealth creation in China has also incorporated business skills and monetary power into the concept of "wen" itself. The book shows that in a very short period China has changed from a relatively isolated state with stable and established cultural ideals, to being greatly globalised"--

"If feminism is still an ongoing project after 60-odd years, then why has the backlash been so long in the coming?This edited volume reflects on current debate around gender in education, where academics, practitioners and policy-makers are beginning to refer to a crisis of masculinity. Why is there an under-representation of men in education? Why do women increasingly outstrip men in terms of achievement? Is it possible men are becoming educationally disadvantaged?Drawing on research from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada the contributors reveal the full spectrum of issues at hand in gender inequality in education. Other forces which have comparable impacts, and which intersect with gender include class, ethnicity and age as well as colonisation. In the light of this, the book provides both evidence and argument to illuminate contemporary debates about the involvement of women and men in education. Importantly, this book critically addresses some of the taken-for-granted beliefs about men and their engagement in lifelong learning, presenting new evidence to demonstrate the complexity of gender and education today. With these complexities in mind, the authors develop new frameworks and questions which provide a theoretical basis to develop further understanding of the many issues involve with gender and lifelong learning.This book will be of interest to any practitioner open to the fresh ideas and approaches in teaching and programming needed when taking into account the differences both between men and women and among men and women"--