Abstract
In a widely cited article Boyle suggests that a movement against the growing propertization of knowledge should develop a mobilization frame centered around the idea of the public domain. Based on an analysis of the framing strategies in the two most important protest mobilizations against extensive intellectual property rights I discuss whether and to which degree these movements did actually put the concept of the public domain at the center of their argumentation. The article uses political claims analysis and discourse analysis to show that the actual framing strategies relied on other frames. It closes with a discussion, explaining why the idea of the public domain is essentially a defensive concept with a limited potential for movements that primarily address the production of knowledge.
Highlights
In a widely cited article, James Boyle (2003) develops a powerful narrative of intellectual property rights as the “second enclosure movement”
Like the notion of “the environment” that had to be developed before it was possible to bring together nature enthusiasts, conservationists, ecologists and others in the environmental movement, “an emergent concept of the public domain could tie together the interests of groups currently engaged in individual struggles with no sense of the larger context” (Boyle 2003: 71) in the field of the politics of intellectual property (Haunss & Shadlen 2009)
Has the concept of the public domain or the commons in effect become a unifying master frame (Snow & Benford 1992: 138), bringing together various organizations and protests under a shared interpretation and with a common goal? Have these concepts played a central role in recent conflicts about intellectual property rights? Or do other frames play a more central role in uniting social movements that are addressing conflicts of the knowledge society?
Summary
In a widely cited article Boyle suggests that a movement against the growing propertization of knowledge should develop a mobilization frame centered around the idea of the public domain. Based on an analysis of the framing strategies in the two most important protest mobilizations against extensive intellectual property rights I discuss whether and to which degree these movements did put the concept of the public domain at the center of their argumentation. The article uses political claims analysis and discourse analysis to show that the actual framing strategies relied on other frames It closes with a discussion, explaining why the idea of the public domain is essentially a defensive concept with a limited potential for movements that primarily address the production of knowledge. The article closes with a more general comparative discussion of the framing strategies and how they should be interpreted
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