Frame Disputes

Abstract

AbstractFrame disputes refer to differences of opinion or preference regarding claims associated with framing activities that social movement actors fashion. Frame disputes are a pervasive dynamic within social movements, one of several contested discursive processes within the movement arena (Benford & Snow 2000). The concept derives from Erving Goffman's observations inFrame Analysisthat interpretations of what's going on in a particular circumstance are subject to disagreement. On such occasions “reality” must be negotiated. In the context of social movements, frame disputes erupt within a movement organization (intraorganizational dispute) and/or between representatives of two or more SMOs within a social movement (interorganizational dispute). Frame disputes in the wider political arena, such as those that often arise between social movements and their opponents (e.g., countermovements, targets of change, media, etc.), have been referred to as “framing contests” (Ryan 1991). The focus of this entry is on interpretive and discursive disagreements that occurwithina social movement.