Uses of Raewyn Connell in the Construction of the Sub-Field of Masculinities Studies in France: The HSS Scholar as a Symbolic Good

By understanding the HSS (humanities and social sciences) scholar as a symbolic good, this article shows the intertwining of the French reception of the sociology of Raewyn Connell—an internationally leading figure in masculinities studies—and of the construction of a sub-field of masculinities studies in France. Drawing on his PhD research, the author evidences a significant increase in references to Connell’s work in French HSS scholarship and a spike of translations into French at the turn of the 2010s. This was the work of young scholars, based at EHESS, who saw Connell as a symbolic good that they used to confer legitimacy on their own research and contribute to the institutionalization of their research themes.