Lessons from #MeToo: a critical reflective comment

ABSTRACT

In this commentary, I use the gender emancipation project as a context for a critique of institutional theory. The core of the critique is that institutional theory cannot be critical. This is demonstrated through a very brief history of #MeToo. In that instance, an institutional theoretical analysis would suggest success for the activists behind #MeToo. Regulative forces have emerged requiring gender training while normative expectations regarding toxic masculinity (for instance, mansplaining and manspreading) have shifted. In this sense, the institutional field has adopted much of the language of #MeToo. But even a cursory analysis shows that the project of gender emancipation is far from complete. This critique is extrapolated to a broader question of our disciplinary axiology. What do we want our research to accomplish?

KEYWORDS:

• Institutional theory
• gender
• axiology
• emancipation
• critical theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.