Much of Robert Blauner's work on race relations, the lives of factory workers, and men's studies, is deeply rooted in his personal experience. He was born in Chicago on May 18, 1929, to Samuel Blauner, a lawyer and sometime poet, and Esther (Shapiro) Blauner. He graduated with a bachelor of arts from the University of Chicago in 1948, and went on to earn a master of arts from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), two years later, and a doctorate from UCB in 1962. After receiving his Ph.D., Blauner immediately married Rena Katznelson, a child psychotherapist, and later married Karina Epperlein. He has two children, Marya and Jonathan.

Blauner's long career as an academic sociologist began at San Francisco State University as an assistant professor of sociology in 1961. The next year he went to the University of Chicago and became a faculty member at UCB in 1963. He stayed at UCB for...