The French #MeToo campaign: Hybrid activism from #BalanceTonPorc to #MeTooInceste

What the paper says

This article argues that the #MeToo campaign in France underwent a fundamental transformation in the conditions under which feminist testimony about sexual violence could achieve public resonance. Tracing the movement’s trajectory from October 2017 to January 2022, we draw on Treré’s (2018) concept of “hybrid activism” and Alcoff’s (2019) notion of “echoability” to analyse five analytically distinct phases: the digital eruption of #BalanceTonPorc; the cultural backlash exemplified by Le Monde’s manifesto defending the “freedom to importune”; the hybridization of online and offline mobilisation through #NousToutes; the ripple effects in cultural industries and the reframing of private sphere violence through #MeTooInceste. Using Twitter data analysis, Instagram social network analysis and systematic media monitoring, we demonstrate how the French case – characterised by tensions between feminist activism and cultural defences of seduction à la française and by a complex interweaving of digital platforms, mainstream media, cultural production and street mobilisation – complicates and extends existing accounts of feminist hashtag activism. Our findings show that the campaign’s echoability shifted significantly over time: while early testimonies faced substantial backlash, the movement’s expansion into incest discourse encountered virtually no public resistance, suggesting a transformation in the conditions under which sexual violence can be publicly named.