Search results

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

The theories of diffusion.

Diffusion and social movements.

Diffusion and the #MeToo campaign.

The international #metoo campaigns are influenced by local social norms, institutional responses to gender-based sexual violence, and neo-patriarchy. Therefore, some characteristics are highly locally specific. The chapter describes the local characteristics of the #jaztudi campaign in Slovenia by analysing women's testimonies, and media and social reactions. The #jaztudi started in 2018 initiated by four women public intellectuals one of whom is the author of this chapter. The chapter takes as its starting point an overview of gender-based inequalities that women in post-socialist Slovenia are facing. Women's testimonies reveal that sexual violence happens at home, in educational, healthcare, religious, public and private institutions as well as at work and in leisure time, and has great impact on the women's lives. In a short period of time, by compiling and publishing the testimonies, the #jaztudi campaign created a snowball effect and contributed to the launching of new on-line and media-supported discussions about sexual violence, notably by Catholic priests, and the painful and demeaning treatment that women encounter in different health institutions. The campaign facilitated the emergence of alliances among new cases of sexual violence in a relatively short period of time, and contributed to some degree to awareness raising. The campaign encouraged the emergence of a new sensitivity much needed in order to reach new political agreements. Taking into account that sexual violence is historically a patriarchal strategy used to control women, it is urgent to implement the ‘yes means yes’ model of consent of the Istanbul convention in Slovenia, and to create the political and social conditions in which sexual harassment and violence against women are unacceptable.

Following victimisation of many types, knowing one is not alone in their experience, or the reactions to that experience, has been identified as comforting and supportive of recovery in survivors of violence and abuse. Information is often provided by support groups, professionals, or victim/survivor organisations, which still fill a significant gap in the criminal justice system, which offers insufficient support to victims of crime. However, as many victims do not engage with support services or the criminal justice system, they may be at risk of not receiving such crucial support. The rising popularity of so called ‘hashtag activism’ has however provided victims and survivors with a worldwide platform to share experiences, reactions, information, support, and solidarity. This chapter explores the impact of key hashtags, such as #metoo and #BlackLivesMatter, via a critical evaluation of outcomes, including policy, cultural, and legislative impact, to unpick their successes and failures, with a focus on support and community-building, marginalisation and performative allyship.

One of the key contributions of feminist criminology has been to recognise the cultural significance of the concepts of sex and gender, bodies and social practices in order to conceptualise men’s engagement with crime, including the dominance of men as perpetrators of crimes of violence against women.

This chapter focusses on the #MeToo movement which has revealed the stark contrast between women’s experiences of sexual assault and sexual harassment, and the extent of men’s perceived entitlement to women’s bodies. By theorising the regulatory processes by which different bodies are ‘moralised’, it is possible to see how cultures are created by reference to the values ascribed to different bodies as well as what different bodies do. The author considers the applicability of moral regulation theory to show how processes of sexualisation, including sexual assault and harassment, constitute identity formation and considers whether resistance in the form of the #MeToo movement amounts to a powerful enough challenge to introduce cultural and structural changes.

This chapter address how critical feminist organization studies can shed light on the dominance of masculinist logics in TM theorizing in both theory and practice and open up opportunities to review TM systems that stress inclusion and equity. The exclusive approach is most worrisome given that contemporary events such as the prosecution of Harvey Weinstein the global ‘#metoo campaigns and the Sustainable Development Goals have highlighted the importance of equality agendas. We draw on transnationalism, intersectionality and postcolonialism approaches to illustrate how TM reinforces inequalities. Our contribution questions the elite logics, and the white Global North males that dominate both TM theorizing, and TM practitioners and denies many stakeholders voices and contributions to organization life. We also question the longevity of the elite mantra of MNCs’ HRM policy given that the Sustainable Development Goals are increasingly being advocated by the business community, and contradict entirely an organizational ethic premised on valuing the elite.