#MeToo and the Politics of Social Change

#MeToo has sparked a global re-emergence of sexual violence activism and politics. This edited collection uses the #MeToo movement as a starting point for interrogating contemporary debates in anti-sexual violence activism and justice-seeking. It draws together 19 accessible chapters from academics, practitioners, and sexual violence activists across the globe to provide diverse, critical, and nuanced perspectives on the broader implications of the movement. It taps into wider conversations about the nature, history, and complexities of anti-rape and anti-sexual harassment politics, including the limitations of the movement including in the global South. It features both internationally recognised and emerging academics from across the fields of criminology, media and communications, film studies, gender and queer studies, and law and will appeal broadly to the academic community, activists, and beyond.

Bianca Fileborn is Lecturer in Criminology at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research examines the intersections of space/place, identity, culture and sexual violence, and justice responses to sexual violence. Dr. Fileborn was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award in 2019 to examine justice responses to street harassment. Other recent projects include an examination of safety and sexual violence at Australian music festivals, sexual violence in licensed venues, and LGBTIQ+ young people’s involvement in family violence. She is the author of Reclaiming The Night-Time Economy: Unwanted Sexual Attention in Pubs and Clubs (Palgrave Macmillan). 

Rachel Loney-Howes is Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Health and Society at the University of Wollongong, Australia. A critical socio-legal studies scholar, her research explores the nature, history, and scope of anti-rape activism, with a particular focus on the relationship between activism, support services, and law reform.