Abstract

#MeToo: Reimagining the History of Sexual Harassment in Business History

In 2017, more than a decade after Tarana Burke first coined the phrase “Me Too,” to emphasize women’s experience of sexual harassment, a series of explosive charges against film producer Harvey Weinstein resulted in the term’s rapid adoption on Twitter (#MeToo) and exposed the harassment women regularly experienced. Not surprisingly, the #MeToo movement had a powerful impact on the academic world. Feminist scholars offered theoretical analysis, students demonstrated against sexual harassment on campus, and university administrators were forced to address complaints about senior scholars’ inappropriate behavior. Yet it has been less obvious how to incorporate #MeToo into historical research and teaching. In their proposed paper for the 2023 BHC, Chris McKenna (supported by Mara Keire in Oxford), will offer two perspectives on #MeToo and sexual harassment. For Keire that means addressing how #MeToo adds to the insights of second-wave feminism to address the hierarchical networks of institutional complicity that allowed sexual harassment to flourish within business settings. This is partly based on her recent article in Labor on sexual harassment in Macy’s Department Store from 1910 to 1915. By contrast, the presenter, Chris McKenna, will consider the place of historical case studies – and leadership in businesses – while addressing the history of sexual exploitation. As the editor of a series of business history case studies in Oxford, McKenna has considered this problem via several case studies including the history of Lord Nuffield and Morris Motors in Oxford; the Robert and Ghislaine Maxwell scandals; and the rise of Pixar and the subsequent firing of John Lasseter. To reiterate the BHC’s call for papers: “what questions, methods, and forms should a field like business history, embrace in order to grapple with the big questions we face today?” We strongly believe that #MeToo deserves to those big questions we face today.