What has happened to involved fatherhood?

This chapter sets the stage for the examining what has happened to ideals and practises of involved fatherhood in Europe. It focuses on contemporary scholarship alongside a focus on structural factors which shape fathering experiences and fatherhood. These factors include the workplace, models of welfare, and cultural and political ideals and shifts. Linguistic and theoretical shifts are also introduced as keys aspects of researching and theorizing men’s contemporary experiences of being a father. The chapters in the edited collection have been produced by researchers who have worked together for a number of years and the origins of their collaboration are described.