One voice or multi-issue movement? Exploring the role of bonding and bridging social capital within the COVID-19 antivax movement

Abstract

Activism represents a prominent and growing body of knowledge in public relations scholarship and practice. Most of the extant studies focus on progressive and prosocial activism, understanding activism as a form of communication that aims to further social justice and equality. However, arguably, activism is a polylithic concept and not all movements are progressive in nature or seek to further issues in a given society’s best interest. One such example is the so-called antivax protest movement that emerged in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast to its depiction as a large, single-issue protest movement, the authors highlight it as a movement that brings together multiple issues, agendas, and worldviews. Drawing on Putnam’s notions of bridging and bonding social capital, the authors argue that a movement’s lack of ability to convert bridging into bonding social capital limits its longevity and impact. They suggest that public relations professionals need to avoid the temptation to apply convenient umbrella labels to multi-issue movements, emphasising the need to adopt a critical awareness of a movement’s underlying issues and motivators, which may be varied, to develop nuanced and effective messaging.