The #MeToo legacy and “the Collective Us”: conceptualising accountability for sexual misconduct at work
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 24 October 2022
Issue publication date: 31 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse how the collective processing of the #MeToo legacy in the form of community discourses and activism conceptualises organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and enhances the development of new accountability instruments.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on social movement theory and the intellectual problematics of accountability, together with the empirical insights from two research engagement projects established and facilitated by the author.
Findings
The study reveals multiple dimensions of how post-#MeToo community activism impacted the conceptualisation of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work. The movement enhanced discourses prompting a new societal sense of accountability for sexual wrongdoings. This in turn facilitated public demands for accountability that pressured organisations to respond. The accountability crisis created an opportunity for community activists to influence understanding of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and to propose new accountability instruments advancing harassment reporting technology, as well as an enhancing the behavioural consciousness and self-assessment of individuals.
Originality/value
The study addresses a topic of social importance in analysing how community activism arising from a social movement has transformed accountability demands and thus both advanced the conceptualisation of organisational accountability for sexual misconduct at work and established socially desirable practices for it. The study contributes to theory by revealing the emancipatory potential of community activism to influence organisational accountability practices and to propose new instruments at a moment of organisational hesitation and crisis of accountability.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
In the year 2022, the author would like to dedicate this paper to her parents, Alexander and Galina, who have showed that civic activism often requires bravery and courage.
This study would not have been possible without the employees of ten UK-based organisations who are willing to collaborate and share their expertise in the areas of psychology, law enforcement, counselling and IT. These passionate enthusiasts are committed to assist in unpacking the complex nature of workplace misconduct by suggesting ways to approach organisational accountability and enhance the development of respectful and safe workplaces. The author thanks the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for funding the Festival of Social Science event “#MeToo: A journey towards a harassment-free workplace” in 2019 and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account project in 2020 at the University of Sussex.
A special thanks to the participants of the Alternative Accounts Europe Conference 2021, an online paper development workshop organised by Jeremy Morales and Rebecca Warren in February 2021, the 16th Organisation Studies Workshop 2022, the Alternative Accounts Conference 2022, and a research seminar at the University of Stirling in March 2022 for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. The author is also very grateful to the special issue editors Carolyn Cordery, Ivo De Loo and Hugo Letiche and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Citation
Goncharenko, G. (2023), "The #MeToo legacy and “the Collective Us”: conceptualising accountability for sexual misconduct at work", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 36 No. 7/8, pp. 1814-1838. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2022-5642
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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