The “Unfinished Story”: Narratively Analyzing Collective Action Frames in Social Movements

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 733-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert VanWynsberghe
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-292
Author(s):  
Ксения Сергеевна Семыкина

This article analyses media representations of LGBT social movements, taking the case of Saint Petersburg LGBT pride parades. The analysis is developed through the use of framing theory, which views the media as an arena where interest groups promote their own interpretations of particular issues. Frames juxtapose elements of the text in such a way as to provide the audience with a scheme within which to perceive the message. Social movements are viewed as interest groups that introduce new frames in public debate. Two types of frames can be distinguished: collective action frames and status quo frames. In this study, the usage of two collective action frames (equality frame and victim frame), and two status quo frames (morality frame and propaganda promoting homosexuality frame) were examined. Additionally, the sources of quotes used in news stories were analyzed. The study focuses on articles dedicated to Saint Petersburg LGBT pride marches in the years 2010–2017 in the most popular local Internet websites. The analysis shows that the coverage of LGBT pride marches can be divided into two distinct periods: 2010–2013 and 2014–2017. In the first period, LGBT activists dominated the coverage, quoted about twice as much as government officials. Equality and victim frames were prevalent. In the second period, activists were cited significantly less often, with the propaganda promoting homosexuality frame dominating the discourse. However, contrary to findings of previous studies on social movement representation, across the whole period under consideration, LGBT activists were quoted more often than government representatives. This finding calls for a further exploration of the conditions which allowed for such coverage in the context of political heterosexism and homophobia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Daellenbach ◽  
Joy Parkinson

Purpose The elaboration of framing in social movement theory offers a different perspective than is typically taken in social marketing. This paper explores how social marketing may benefit from this alternate lens. Design/methodology/approach The construction, features and processes associated with collective action frames in social movements are examined and explored via two social causes: obesity and disaster preparation. Findings A social movement perspective on framing highlights the need to better understand variations in how groups may perceive a problem and its solutions. It suggests a range of considerations and options in constructing and participating in the development of collective action frames, which are suggested to benefit social marketing initiatives and, thus, society. Research limitations/implications Further research in societal well-being and the meso-level of social change should consider adopting a social movement framing perspective. A list of questions is provided to guide future research. Practical implications Mobilising a group into action is often a necessary and effective step in realising social change. The questions raised in social movement framing will equip practitioners and researchers with greater understanding of the issue, the context and potential solutions, ultimately to encourage positive social movements and social benefit. Originality/value While calls have been made for broader perspectives in social marketing, little attention has been given to social movements. This paper offers a way forward with respect to framing.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndi Hewitt ◽  
Holly McCammon

Growing evidence points to the pivotal role of framing processes in the mobilization of social movements. Our study contributes to framing theory by drawing on data from state-level woman suffrage movements in the U.S. to provide a systematic comparison of the mobilizing capacities of different collective action frames. Specifically, we examine the differential impact of the justice, societal reform, and home protection frames. Rather than assuming that all frames deployed by movements contribute equally to successful mobilization, we distinguish between effective and ineffective frames. Results of cross-sectional time series analyses suggest that the use of the reform frame positively influenced membership growth in state suffrage organizations, while the use of the justice and home protection frames had no effect. We conclude that there are three key determinants of a frame's mobilizing capacity: a balanced (i.e., culturally resonant and oppositional) message, the range of issues addressed, and the effective neutralization of counterframes


2020 ◽  
pp. 136843022097475
Author(s):  
Samuel Hansen Freel ◽  
Rezarta Bilali ◽  
Erin Brooke Godfrey

In a three-wave longitudinal study conducted in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, this paper examines how people come to self-categorize into the emerging social movement “the Resistance,” and how self-categorization into this movement influences future participation in collective action and perceptions of the movement’s efficacy. Conventional collective action (e.g., protest, lobby legislators)—but not persuasive collective action (e.g., posting on social media)—and perceived identity consolidation efficacy of the movement at Wave 1 predicted a higher likelihood of self-categorization into the movement 1 month later (Wave 2) and 2 months later (Wave 3). Self-categorization into the Resistance predicted two types of higher subsequent movement efficacy perceptions, and helped sustain the effects of conventional collective action and movement efficacy beliefs at Wave 1 on efficacy beliefs at Wave 3. Implications for theory and future research on emerging social movements are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762097056
Author(s):  
Morgana Lizzio-Wilson ◽  
Emma F. Thomas ◽  
Winnifred R. Louis ◽  
Brittany Wilcockson ◽  
Catherine E. Amiot ◽  
...  

Extensive research has identified factors influencing collective-action participation. However, less is known about how collective-action outcomes (i.e., success and failure) shape engagement in social movements over time. Using data collected before and after the 2017 marriage-equality debate in Australia, we conducted a latent profile analysis that indicated that success unified supporters of change ( n = 420), whereas failure created subgroups among opponents ( n = 419), reflecting four divergent responses: disengagement (resigned acceptors), moderate disengagement and continued investment (moderates), and renewed commitment to the cause using similar strategies (stay-the-course opponents) or new strategies (innovators). Resigned acceptors were least inclined to act following failure, whereas innovators were generally more likely to engage in conventional action and justify using radical action relative to the other profiles. These divergent reactions were predicted by differing baseline levels of social identification, group efficacy, and anger. Collective-action outcomes dynamically shape participation in social movements; this is an important direction for future research.


Author(s):  
Paul Lichterman

This article proposes a new and better concept of civic culture and shows how it can benefit sociology. It argues that a better concept of civic culture gives us a stronger, comparative, and contextual perspective on voluntary associations—the conventional American empirical referent for “civic”—while also improving our sociologies of religion and social movements. The article first considers the classic perspective on civic culture and its current incarnations in order to show why we need better conceptual groundwork than they have offered. It then introduces the alternative approach, which is rooted in a pragmatist understanding of collective action and both builds on and departs in some ways from newly prominent understandings of culture in sociology. This approach’s virtues are illustrated with ethnographic examples from a variety of volunteer groups, social movement organizations, and religious associations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 180-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis F. Angosto-Ferrández

The unprecedented enfranchisement of Venezuela’s indigenous population is partly a result of the formation of a state-sponsored indigenous movement. This movement prioritizes access to social services, economic development, and political participation in state structures over certain goals of free determination. Other forms of collective action with different priorities are evidence of the existence of diverging interests and goals among indigenous people. These divergences are a reflection of the way in which the indigenous population partakes in the shaping of contemporary Venezuelan politics. La inclusión social de las comunidades indígenas de Venezuela no tiene precedentes y se debe, en parte, a la formación de movimientos indígenas auspiciados por el estado. Estos movimientos le dan prioridad al acceso a los servicios sociales, al desarrollo económico y a la participación política en las estructuras estatales por encima de ciertas metas de libre determinación. Otras formas de acción colectiva con prioridades diferentes revelan la presencia/existencia de intereses y objetivos divergentes entre las comunidades indígenas. Estas diferencias son un reflejo de la manera en que las poblaciones indígenas participan en la formación de la política venezolana contemporánea.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Gomes

O trabalho discute a organização prisional em facções a partir de paralelos com ações coletivas, com teorias dos movimentos sociais para lançar luz às práticas das facções prisionais. Dessa forma, baseado em um trabalho de inspiração etnográfica em prisões masculinas e femininas no Rio de Janeiro, Manaus e Fortaleza, abordaremos convergências e diferenças entre o modus operandi das facções prisionais do país, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Comando Vermelho (CV), Facção do Norte (FDN) e Guardiões do Estado (GDE) e movimentos sociais. Desde 2006, aumentaram significativamente as rebeliões, queima de veículos e transferência de presos, como instrumentos de barganha, aqui entendidas como repertórios. A pesquisa aponta para um funcionamento das facções que, por ser empiricamente orientado, traz elementos inovadores para pensar os limites e as possibilidades das teorias da ação coletiva.


Author(s):  
Paolo Gerbaudo

Digital communication technologies are modifying how social movements communicate internally and externally and the way participants are organized and mobilized. This transformation calls for a rethinking of how we conceive of and analyze them. Scholars cannot be content with studying the digital and the physical or the online and the offline separately, but must explore the imbrication between these aspects by studying how the elements of social movements combine in a political “ensemble,” an ecosystem, or an action texture, defining the possibilities and limits of collective action. This chapter proposes a qualitative methodology combining analysis of digital media with observations of events and interviews with participants to develop a holistic account of collective action. This methodology is best positioned to capture the changing nature and meaning of protest action in a digital era, producing a “thick account” of the relationship between digital politics and everyday life.


Sexualities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 114-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph N Goh ◽  
Thaatchaayini Kananatu

The unrelenting ill-treatment suffered by mak nyahs, or Malaysian pre-operative and post-operative male-to-female transsexuals, indicates a steady process of dehumanisation that besieges mak nyahs in contemporary Malaysia. Nevertheless, the 2000s have seen a groundswell of strategies by mak nyahs to dismantle forces that seek to dehumanise them, and thus to embrace self-empowerment. By analysing online media resources, information from communication networks and legal cases pertaining to mak nyahs, we aim to explain the ways in which the strategies of mak nyahs and their allies to dismantle dehumanisation and empower themselves are framed and mobilised in Malaysia in the 2000s. To this end, we draw on a two-fold analytical framework that comprises David A Snow’s and Robert D Benford’s notion of collective action frames, and Michael W McCann’s legal mobilisation theory, in order to interpret our analysis. We argue that although mak nyahs have encountered dehumanising forces such as violence, pathologisation and reparative therapy, religious denunciations and moral policing, they have responded with diverse empowerment strategies that include the telling of personal stories, increasing public visibility, eliciting international recognition and support, forming alliances and organising collective action and legal recourse.


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