Legalizing Street Vending in Los Angeles: Reframing a Movement during the Fourth Wave of Feminism

Abstract

Street vending was criminalized in the city of Los Angeles since the 1930s. The Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign (LASVC) utilized several framing tactics over the last several years in order to mobilize participants to decriminalize and legalize the profession of street vending. This article applies frame alignment theory to illustrate how the LASVC reached its goals. This case study utilizes qualitative interviews of key players in the LASVC movement and a content analysis of LASVC’S Facebook page to document their push toward decriminalization over the course of 1 year. The LASVC transformed their narrative from issues of immigration and labor rights and reframed street vending as a women’s justice issue. By doing so, the LASVC extended the boundaries of their frames to incorporate the voices of women of color whose online and on-the-ground efforts to mobilize a larger population manifested during an era of the fourth wave feminism.