Master Framing and Cross-Movement Networking in Contemporary Social Movements

Abstract

This article maps the network of cross‐movement activism in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, and explores the relationship between position in the network and cognitive use of different injustice frames. The study is informed by a neo‐Gramscian analysis that views social movements as (potential) agencies of counterhegemony. Viewed as a political project of mobilizing broad, diverse opposition to entrenched economic, political, and cultural power, counterhegemony entails a tendential movement toward comprehensive critiques of domination and toward comprehensive networks of activism. We find that the use of a broadly resonant master frame—the political‐economy account of injustice —is associated with the practice of cross‐movement activism. Activists whose social movement organization (SMO) memberships put them in touch with activists from other movements tend to frame injustice as materially grounded, structural, and susceptible to transformation through concerted collective action. Moreover, the movements in which political‐economy framing especially predominates–labor, peace, feminism, and the urban/antipoverty sector—tend not only to supply most of the cross‐movement ties but to be tied to each other as well, suggesting that a political‐economy framing of injustice provides a common language in which activists from different movements can communicate and perhaps find common ground.

Structural Approaches in the Sociology of Social Movements

“…and national groups, suggesting that transnational associations may serve as brokers between international and more geographically proximate political arenas (Stark, Vedres, and Bruszt 2005). This finding resonates with one from a study of movement networks in Vancouver by Carroll and Ratner (1996), which found that groups working with a political economy and justice frame were more outward-oriented and connected to extra- And analyzing civil society networks in Latin America, Korzeniewicz and Smith (2000 argue for a more self-conscious cultivation of "polycentric governance coalitions" to address the inequalities that have hampered development efforts in that region and elsewhere.…”

Hybrid Activism: Social Movement Mobilization in a Multimovement Environment

“…In their survey of the Greater Vancouver area, Carroll and Ratner (1996) find that 71.4% of peace and antiwar activists hold memberships in multiple organizations in multiple social movements. Their research demonstrates that these "cosmopolitan" activists are more common in the peace and antiwar sector than in any other movement sector.…”

“…Second, at the organizational level, hybrid organizations mobilize activists by building inter-movement networks (Carroll and Ratner 1996), standing as intermovement representatives in peace coalitions (Van Dyke 2003), and adopting frame extensions that oppose war using the language of other movements (Snow, Rochford, Worden, and Benford 1986). 2 Veterans in the United States have a long history of mobilizing on policy issues related to veterans' benefits and other social policies.…”

Social Media and Protest Mobilization: Evidence from the Tunisian Revolution

“…73.8% of respondents had learned through the Internet that a large number of people had signed up for a demonstration in their own town, city or municipality. Combined, these two findings indicate that social media may indeed have facilitated a spillover effect whereby protest information filters from the networks of political activists into those of less-engaged citizens (Carroll and Ratner 1996) .…”

“…The key challenge for the formation of protest under authoritarian regimes is that potential protesters will only turn out to protest if they are convinced that a large number of others will do the same (Hendrix, Haggard, and Magaloni 2009 information about upcoming protest events to travel beyond the boundaries of a network of hard-core activists and 'spill over' to networks of less-engaged citizens (Carroll and Ratner 1996). Another important function of social networks in this context is to build a collective identity supportive of protest action, which is achieved through interpersonal conversations with other network members.…”