The Persistence of Frames: Direct Action in the 21st Century

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Collective Action Frames

Abstract

This paper identifies a specific set of beliefs – a direct action frame – that aid understanding of some key characteristics of a range of social movements that have been active over the past 15 years. I conceptualise the period as one long wave of protest, marked by two features: the context of globalising neoliberalism and the organisational innovations of networked activism. As with all protest waves, multiple movements intersect over this period on a range of specific issues. Within the long wave of protest are a number of short-term waves of heightened mobilization: one associated with the alter-globalisation or Global Justice Movements; another with the anti-war movements; and a third with the Arab Spring and subsequent wave of Occupy movements. Each wave is, in itself, complex with a range of political, structural and cultural currents. Waves on this scale are typically analysed in isolation. By examining both the historical roots and the evolution of the direct action frame over this period, this paper demonstrates one way of understanding the cultural connections across both long- and short-term waves of protest.

Author

• Kevin Gillan, University of Manchester