The concept of fatherlessness has emerged at the centre of debates over welfare, poverty, sexuality, divorce, family values and "racial disorder". Do children need fathers? Do mothers need husbands? Should we celebrate or grieve the loss (or transformation) of fatherhood? Is there a relation between "fatherlessness" and the destitution and crime of inner city communities? Or is talk about "fatherlessness" simply a political diversion from the true sources of inequality and social disruption? This collection brings together the voices of nine diverse scholars to reflect on the culturally and politically charged concept of "fatherlessness" and to illustrate the deep and dramatic divisions which constitute public debate on this issue