Frame Alignment Processes Research Articles

Bridging Activism and Party Politics: Mapping Frame Alignment Processes in Politicians’ Use of Hashtags

The use of hashtags has become an effective tool for activists to mobilize public support. This study explores whether, and in what ways, such hashtags have been adopted by politicians in power. Conducting a systematic, cross-national analysis, we examine how politicians use, what we call, activism-related hashtags. Using data from the Twitter Parliamentarian Database, we analyze the hashtagging practices of politicians in 10 countries: Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The analysis explores what types of hashtags politicians use, and to what extent these tags are activism-related. We also analyze what activist causes hashtags used by politicians are related to, to better understand what causes are the most palatable to politicians. We further analyze qualitatively how the activism-related hashtags are used by the politicians. Through a combination of thematic analysis and frame analysis, we find that, in relation to the wide range of hashtags that politicians use, activism-related hashtags constitute a limited share. Our analysis also indicates that although politicians do indeed use activism-related hashtags, this can be for many different reasons and purposes, beyond merely supporting the cause or position of the original activist initiative. We find that politicians may join in with the key contention behind the hashtag, renegotiate the meaning of the hashtag to be able to align party-political ideologies with it, or engage with it by questioning or subverting it.

Frame alignment processes for locally useful agricultural soil research and extension: The role of farm advisors

AbstractFarm advisors are recognised as playing an increasingly central role in facilitating interactions between scientists and farmers to improve local implementation of sustainable soil management practices and agricultural innovations more broadly. However, there has been limited scrutiny of what farm advisors do when faced with conflicting interpretations among actors over techniques or approaches for facilitating agricultural innovation. This article advances knowledge in this area by investigating the role of farm advisors in aligning different frames on agricultural soil research and extension across seven Australian mixed farming regions. Drawing upon theoretical work on frame alignment, we argue that farm advisors use three types of strategies to align conflicting frames—frame bridging, frame amplification and frame transformation. These strategies seek to frame local soil research and extension priorities in ways that are assumed to resonate more closely with the frames of multiple constituents, such as farmers and soil scientists. Through our analysis, we argue that the application of a frame alignment approach enables greater precision in identifying which (a) interactive and social learning processes, (b) key local influencers and communities of practice and (c) resourcing and governance arrangements are most likely to be effective in facilitating soil research and extension that is locally useful and useable.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Hashtags in Digital Social Movements: A Case Study of #PercumaLaporPolisi and #PolriSesuaiProsedur in Indonesia

Hashtags are used in digital social movements to mobilize netizens and create social change. This study aims to fill in gaps from previous studies by comparing the hashtags #PercumaLaporPolisi and #PolriSesuaiProsedur, which emerged on Twitter as social movements in response to the rape of three children under ten in East Luwu, South Sulawesi. The study incorporates framing analysis and focuses on the frame alignment process to see the efforts of the hashtags #PercumaLaporPolisi and #PolriSesuaiProsedur on mobilizing social media users. This study uses Social Network Analysis (SNA) to analyze the network structure formed from #PercumaLaporPolisi vs. #PolriSesuaiProsedur hashtags and determine the values of reciprocity, centralization, diameter, density, and modularity. The researcher also uses framing alignment analysis to analyze the tweets collected using Python from October 6-17, 2021, and Netlytic software as a tool. This text compares the effectiveness of two Twitter hashtags, #PercumaLaporPolisi, and #PolriSesuaiProsedur, in mobilizing supporters during a campaign about police policies in Indonesia. Network analysis found that #PolriSesuaiProsedur had a more extensive network, higher density, and more robust framing than #PercumaLaporPolisi, which resulted in a more effective mobilization of supporters. The text emphasizes the importance of precise messaging and framing in hashtag activism. This study compared the success of two hashtags, #PercumaLaporPolisi, and #PolriSesuaiProsedur, and found that #PolriSesuaiProsedur was more successful due to its clear framing. This research highlights the significance of precise framing in hashtags for mobilizing supporters in digital social movements. Future studies could investigate the impact of various hashtags on mobilization.

THE FRAMING OF PROTEST

Framing is the process of selecting certain aspects from the perceived reality and placing them prominently within messages, in order to promote a particular definition of the situation , a certain causal interpretation , a certain moral evaluation and a proposal for some remedies. During social movements or protests , especially in an era of post truth, alternative facts and fake news , framing is relevant in different ways of constructing and interpreting messages. Framing is a dynamic process, consisting in collective and ongoing shaping and reshaping of frames by protesters and audiences, in order to mobilize adherents, appeal to authorities and silence opponents. Social media enables social movement activists and participants to organize offline protests and to expand repertoires of action. Online platforms (social networks, etc.) facilitate dissemination of collective action messages and recruiting of supporters. Also, social media influence frame alignment processes of social movements.

Mujeres movilizadas en el 68 uruguayo: el movimiento por la justicia y la paz social desde la teoría del framing

This article analyzes the demonstration organized in Montevideo on the 26th of September of 1968, by women who would later constitute the “Feminine Movement for Justice and Social Peace” (Movimiento Femenino por la Justicia y la Paz Social). For this purpose, the article builds on the Political Sociology and Political Science studies of social movements ―especially the framing theory―, as well as on studies which have analyzed women’s movements in 20th Century Latin America. The article concludes that the activists made a strategic use of the dominant values and beliefs existent in the cultural stock about women’s role. These were articulated in an interpretative frame which achieved the successful mobilization of new adherents, the spectators’ support and the press’s sympathy, through a frame alignment process. It also avoided police repression successfully, in an authoritarian context where it was expected that the law and order forces would unleash their violence against any expression of opposition to the government. Finally, taking into account that social movements contribute to enrich the cultural stock and repertoire of protest from one protest cycle to the next, we propose that this demonstration was one of the first ones to use silence as a form of protest associated with denouncing repressive actions of state authoritarianism in the Southern Cone.

Understanding Chinese Christian Far-Right Narrative in the COVID-19 Context: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective

AbstractThis article introduces the controversy over the naming of COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” and the related hate crimes in the US. It focuses on a group of Chinese Christians in North America who devote themselves to defending and legitimising the concept of the “Chinese Virus” within various social media. This research analyses the content of the related texts and videos and defines the Christian far-right narrative and reviews the relationship between the Christian far-right narrative, Christian fundamentalism, and Christian nationalism. It explores the frame alignment process of American Christian nationalism and evaluates the frame bridging, amplification, extension, and transformation dynamics of the Chinese Christian far-right narrative. It discusses the similarity between Chinese Christian far-right and religious nationalism in different countries and evaluates the cultural and structural factors that contributed to Christian nationalism with Chinese characteristics. The Chinese Christian far-right narrative tends to adopt a friend/foe binary interpretation of political issues, moralise the goal of nation-building, downplay the democratic process and legal systems, and put religious communitarian values over the secular state’s responsibility to protect human rights. The Christian far-right narrative reflects a religious nationalist sentiment to exclude political, religious, and cultural others, which is fundamentalist theologically, opposing to system politically, anti-secular humanism culturally, and anti-progressive morally.

Social containers as a tool of social and spatial segregation

Our paper deals with the establishment of the container settlements in Poland and the grassroots response to it: by the inhabitants and by political activists. In particular we are interested in how local authorities strategically frame housing issues to create social acceptance of diminishing standards of social housing in Poland and the involvement of the mainstream media in the process. We are focusing on strategies as well as tactical efforts to overcome structural and discursive opportunities emerging in the process of the anti- container campaign. Exclusionary discourse about the ‘container ghettos’ becomes a justification for local authorities to use social containers as tool of social and spatial segregation as well as to discipline communal tenants. In response of this process activists had to develop new diagnostic mobilizing frames and put considerable effort into frame alignment processes and forged new alliances with other actors. We analyze the campaign from the perspective of social movement studies, in particular structural theories of collective action. One side effect of such policies is unspoken racism, which we - after E. Balibar - interpret mostly in class terms aimed at the economically maladjusted. Empirically, our paper draws upon sociological intervention and 40 in-depth interviews with the inhabitants of the container settlements in Poland in 7 different cities conducted in 2008-2012; participantobservations of the settlements and of the campaign against them due to personal involvement of one of the authors.

해방공간 안에서 천도교청우당의 프레임정렬과정

해방공간 안에서 천도교청우당의 프레임정렬과정

Framing Vision: An Examination of Framing, Sensegiving, and Sensemaking During a Change Initiative

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this short article is to review the findings from an instrumental case study that examines how a college president used what this article refers to as “frame alignment processes” to mobilize internal and external support for a college initiative—one that achieved success under the current president. Specifically, I explored the social construction processes by which understanding of change come about, focusing on the use of “frames” as the central mechanism through which a leader’s vision is transformed into meaning and action. This article draws on the sociological definitions of framing, as well as recent research on the use of framing methods and alignment processes. An analysis of qualitative data obtained via an interview with one college president reveals that there are at least three types of frames—or framing methods—that can be employed by college leaders to mobilize the support of stakeholders. This study builds on previous studies that examined how leaders on college campuses communicate their visions for change, and supports the notion that leaders can strategically manage their messages to their stakeholders.

Social media framing within the Million Hoodies movement for justice

•This article examines activism and social media framing.•Textual analysis was conducted of activist network Million Hoodies’ Facebook page.•Examples of core framing and frame alignment processes were identified and illustrated through posts’ texts and shared content within posts.•Core framing and alignment processes were determined to be an efficacious theoretical framework for understanding how online content creators use strategic messaging to engage and motivate followers as well as broaden their base of support.

"Impact, Integration and Identity in Cross-Sector Partnerships"

This paper examines the partnership between a non-profit community hospital and a for-profit technology start-up using a longitudinal case study and a mixed method emergent research design that includes comprehensive real-time accounts, observation, direct communication, retrospective reflection and prospection. Prior literature on cross-sector interactions argue that partners actively co-create value through a deliberate goal-setting and frame-alignment process. We look beyond value creation to understand whether and how partners strive and reach impact in cross-sector collaborations. Elaborating on the two modes of synthesis discussed in the transdisciplinarity literature, we distinguish theoretically between extractive integration (part-to-part combinations) and additive integration (whole-to-whole combinations). We then empirically reveal two reinforcing cycles, showing that extraction promotes value creation whereas additive integration stimulates impact making. To iterate between value creation and ...

Cultural Entrepreneurship and the Role of Visuals in Interactive Frame Alignment Process

We study visuals as fundamental ingredients to generate the emotional energy necessary for entrepreneurs to gain legitimacy. Through the analysis of the work of few entrepreneurs in creating an organization for coordinating the mobilization against plastic pollution, we develop a process model of the strategic use of visuals for legitimation consisting in two main steps: first, emotional equipment and; second, emotional alignment. We observe three strategies through which entrepreneurs legitimize their new frames using visuals: shock alignment, heroic alignment and iconological alignment. Theoretically, we aim to extend recent efforts in analyzing visuals in the cultural entrepreneurship process synthesizing institutional theory with framing and interaction sociology.

The Emergence, Development, and Future of the Framing Perspective: 25+ Years Since "Frame Alignment"

It has been more than twenty-five years since publication of David Snow, Burke Rochford, Steven Worden, and Robert Benford's article, "Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation" in the American Sociological Review (1986). Here we consider the conceptual and empirical origins of the framing perspective, how its introduction fundamentally altered and continues to influence the study of social movements, and where scholarly research on social movement framing is still needed.

Political Magazines on Twitter During the US Presidential Election 2012

This study offers a content analysis of Twitter activity by 16 American political opinion magazines during the month before the 2012 presidential election. The study attempts to operationalize aspects of tweets that may contribute to frame alignment processes and mobilization among Twitter users. The analysis identifies these components and examines how political magazines’ Twitter activity may demonstrate aspects of this process. These magazines must consider both the normative goal of achieving specific political gains by mobilizing readers and the pragmatic goal of remaining sustainable as publishing enterprises. The degree to which their Twitter usage reflects frame alignment processes may not only reinforce political mobilization, but also affect the longevity of their publications. This analysis offers practical and theoretical insights into the changing role of political magazines in an increasingly digital era of political engagement.

Frame Changes in Social Movements: A Case Study

We examine the emergence and evolution of collective action frames in the palliative care movement in Kerala, India. We do so by leveraging secondary data published over seventeen years as well as interviews with thirty movement actors. Our findings suggest two key themes: First, frames that emerge at the grass-roots level, and in many occasions from bystanders, can become dominant frames of a movement. Second, frame alignment processes may be directed by non-elites towards the elites. These findings diverge from prior literature which emphasizes roles of movement leaders and key actors in framing issues and strategies.

The Frame Alignment Process in Environmental Movements around Tokorozawa, Saitama

The Frame Alignment Process in Environmental Movements around <i>Tokorozawa</i>, <i>Saitama</i>

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Political Elites and the Culture of Social Movements

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Political Elites and the Culture of Social Movements

Frame evolution: A new approach to understanding changes in diversity reforms at public universities in the United States

University diversity policy in the past two decades has shifted from rationales that focused on social justice to ones that emphasize educational excellence [Lipson, D. (2007, Fall). Embracing diversity: The institutionalization of affirmative action as diversity management at UC-Berkeley, UT-Austin, and UW-Madison. Law & Social Inquiry, 32(4), 985–1026; Moreno, J. F., Smith, D. G., Parker, S., Clayton-Pedersen, A. R., & Teraguchi, D. H. (2006). Using multiple lenses: An examination of the economic and racial/ethnic diversity of college students. Report from the James Irvine Foundation Campus Diversity Initiative; Moses, M. S., & Chang, M. J. (2006). Toward a deeper understanding of the diversity rationale. Educational Researcher, 35(1), 6–11; Skrenty, J. D. (2002). The minority rights revolution. Princeton University Press]. The consensus among diversity scholars is that this shift has taken place as a result of Federal court decisions restricting the use of affirmative action in admissions. This paper sheds new light on these shifts in rationale by proposing a new theory of frame evolution. I developed this, an extension to Snow et al.’s [Snow, D. A., et al. (1986). Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. American Sociological Review, 51(4), 464–481] theory of frame alignment, as a way to show how policy discourses evolve to accommodate changing demands. I argue that policy frames tend to evolve in a sequential pattern of accommodation, consolidation, and bridging. In-depth interview data with 41 diversity advocates at four public universities in the United States reveal three stages in the frame evolution process: the first motivated by a need to accommodate existing institutional norms, the second motivated by a need to build a core constituency of supporters, and the third with the aim of converting those “on the fence” into policy supporters. In the case of higher education diversity policy, the three stages equate to a maintenance frame, a social justice frame, and an excellence frame.

Wood Frames: Framing the Forests in British Columbia

Much research into social movement framing activity has been based on qualitative case-study analysis of specific movements. These analyses are limited in that are they unable to systematically track any long-term relationships that might exist among a variety of social movement framing strategies. A series of hypotheses were developed that deal with the frequency and prevalence of environmental activists framing tactics over time, which include the frame alignment processes of transformation and amplification, as well as core framing activities of diagnosis, prognosis, and motivation. A quantitative content analysis of news media stories about the protection of temperate rainforests in British Columbia, Canada, over a seven-year period was conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings show that amplification frames are more prevalent than transformation frames, and diagnostic frames are more prevalent than prognostic or motivational frames. In the discussion, several areas for future quantitative research into social movement framing are suggested.

Case study: public consensus building on the Internet.

Many groups or organizations advocating different special interests or policies now promote and conduct grassroots movements online through their own web sites. On the basic assumption that collective activities on the Internet are another form of social phenomenon, the process of public consensus-building on the Internet, and the ways in which various functions available on the Internet were strategically used to facilitate the public's involvement and participation were examined. The Frame Alignment Process was adopted as a conceptual framework for this study. Based on this framework, four related but not identical processes--"frame bridging," "frame amplification," "frame extension," and "frame transformation"--were elaborated, and various functions on the Internet facilitating this frame alignment process were examined. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's successful online campaign to prevent the passage of the Communication Decency Act of 1996 was chosen as a real-world case to elaborate a frame alignment process and the effective use of various functions on the Internet.