The concept of fatherlessness has emerged at the center 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 nine highly diverse scholars to reflect on the culturally and politically charged concept of "fatherlessness" and to illustrate the deep and dramatic divisions that constitute public debate on this issue.