Abstract
This chapter examines the emergence of the #MeToo phenomenon and aims to situate the movement within a broader political and historical context. Arguably, the #MeToo movement has been a watershed moment and reckoning for victim-survivors of sexual violence on a scale not previously witnessed. #MeToo has dominated global news headlines and public discourse and has seemingly generated a range of tangible outcomes working toward ending sexual violence. Yet, if we scratch beneath the surface, #MeToo is simultaneously deeply problematic and troubling as a social movement, with the hashtag campaign replicating and perpetuating a range of inequalities and power dynamics relating to race, gender, class and sexuality. Ultimately, in setting the scene for the discussion to come, we argue that #MeToo is a complex, contradictory movement, and suggest that it presents both problems and possibilities for advancing anti-sexual violence activism.
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Fileborn, B., Loney-Howes, R. (2019). Introduction: Mapping the Emergence of #MeToo. In: Fileborn, B., Loney-Howes, R. (eds) #MeToo and the Politics of Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_1
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