Feminist Legal Theory and #MeToo: Revisiting Tarana Burke’s Vision of Empowerment Through Empathy

Authors

Penelope E. Andrews, New York Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

It is my purpose to ground this Article in ubuntu and the politics of radical love as applied to the goals of #MeToo and its pursuit of redress for victims of sexual harms. Part II explores the convergences and divergences of #MeToo with feminist campaigns of an earlier era. Part III questions whether a renewed quest for gender equality, largely spawned by a Twitter/social media campaign, may lead to sustainable change built on notions of empathy and restorative justice, which was the vision espoused by Carrie in her work and which influenced Tarana Burke when she founded #MeToo. Part IV examines restorative justice approaches in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a way to address the harms of sexual violence. I conclude in Part V with possibilities and limitations in the restorative justice approach to redressing these kinds of claims.

DOI

10.37419/LR.V10.I1.7

First Page

113

Last Page

133

Recommended Citation

Penelope E. Andrews, Feminist Legal Theory and #MeToo: Revisiting Tarana Burke’s Vision of Empowerment Through Empathy, 10 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 113 (2022).
Available at: https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V10.I1.7