Polarizing figures of resistance during epidemics. A comparative frame analysis of the COVID-19 freedom convoy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using the 2022 Freedom Convoy in Canada as a case study, this article explores divisions between public understanding of resistance to health measures during epidemics and oppositional movements’ self-representations. It derives from a comparative analysis of five mainstream Canadian media (n = 516 publications) and of the Freedom Convoy’s Facebook page (n = 611 posts). The data were submitted to a rhetorical frame analysis and a thematic analysis, each factoring in a temporal dimension. Results show how this movement formed around a specific pandemic policy restrictions became increasingly understood from a binary logic concerning questions of identity. Protesters’ experience and analysis of COVID-19 mandates became peripheral in media and social media content, as the focus was instead placed on who was and was not acceptable in Canadian society. Results show that a dialogic relation between the frames used in Canadian mass media and in Facebook posts constructed increasingly dichotomous identities. The social implications of polarizing a political conflict around public health policies are discussed.