Framed Encounters with Conservation and Mining Development: Indigenous Peoples' use of Strategic Framing in Suriname

Abstract

While studies on the use of framing as a strategy for social movements have proliferated in the past 20 years, little is still known about how and why the frames vary across social movement actors and/or events. This article addresses this knowledge lacuna by comparing and contrasting Indigenous peoples' use of rights and identity frames in response to conservation and development events in Suriname. The variation in frames, and possible reasons for these variations, was compared across actors and events by considering (1) alignments of the global Indigenous rights movement with different movements and organizations over time, and (2) participants' level of involvement with national and global Indigenous rights movements. Evidence of strategic frame variation in this study demonstrated Indigenous peoples' ability to creatively and strategically pursue their interests by asserting their collective identity and rights in encounters with conservation and development projects. They accomplished this through the presentation of frames that called into question the logic and fairness of protected areas, their innate capacity to protect the environment, as well as their rights to land, and economic interests in mining. The greater use of rights frames by participants reflected networks generated with human rights organizations. Frame inconsistencies were apparent across conservation and development events that indicated uneven levels of involvement with Indigenous rights movements, which may yet produce unintended consequences for Indigenous communities. However, this case could also signal new possibilities for Indigenous peoples in terms of greater maneuverability in being able to assert their rights and negotiate their identities in relation to conservation and development, and ultimately to gain more power and autonomy over their own affairs.

Collective Identity and Memory: A Comparative Analysis of Community Response to Environmental Hazards

“…They perceive contamination as a threat to the place and people that they value, and respond by organizing to fight for their established way of life (Wulfhorst 2000). In her study of conservation and mining development plans in Suriname, Haalboom (2011) found that indigenous people protested their exclusion from decision making by highlighting their history of connection to the geographic area, and by arguing that their community as a collective was inseparable from the land.…”

What Strikes the Responsive Chord? The Effects of Framing Qualities on Frame Resonance among Protest Participants*

“…Furthermore, few researchers examine frames of specific street demonstrations or protest events (see Gerhards and Rucht 1992 for an exception). Most scholars scrutinize frames of a whole movement, analyzing newspaper articles, texts, or documents communicated by organizations over a longer period of time (e.g., Ferree 2003;Haalboom 2011;Noonan 1995). Accordingly, frames are usually operationalized in a broad sense.…”

Songwriting and Activism: A Young Singer's Efforts to Write Himself into the Traditions of an Activist Group

“…To analyze how social movements develop and circulate meanings, many researchers draw upon theories of frames and framing (Snow & Benford, 1992;Gamson, 1995;Haalboom, 2011;Mendes, 2011;Haydu, 2012;Heidemann, 2012). Frames are understood as schemata used by actors both to interpret the world and to define what can and should be done in the world.…”