Me Too Political Science

Book excerpt: Me Too Political Science explores the multiple manifestations and implications of gendered biases in Political Science by "connecting the dots" between the sexual harassment described in the recent report on 2017 American Political Science Association's Survey on Sexual Harassment at Annual Meetings and other problematic issues. Started by Tarana Burke in 2007 to stand with young women of color who survived sexual assault, the MeToo campaign was intended to let women know that they were not alone. In turn, the Women's Caucus for Political Science used #MeTooPoliSci to bring awareness to sexual harassment, assault and misconduct in the discipline. The essays in this book and the authors' scholarly activism, harnessed a collective power to dispel the shame, embarrassment and secrecy that surrounds these issues. They focus in particular on bullying, entitled and toxic forms of masculinity; systematic discounting of and dismissiveness and derision toward work on gender and sexuality; biases and inequities associated with hiring, teaching evaluations, service loads, and tenure and promotion; and related and often intersecting forms of harassment but not only those related to race and sexuality. The essays in this volume stem for the 2018 pre-conference held by the Women's Caucus for Political Science at the American Political Science Association's annual meeting. Me Too Political Science is of great importance not only to scholars interested in Gender and Women's Studies, but all those working in the Political Science discipline - and even beyond, to academia as a whole. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Women, Politics and Policy.