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We examine frames expressed during the Arab Uprisings that toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya in 2011. Through a visual analysis of 3,506 photographs taken at protest sites, we identify a new type of master frame, the “reclamation” master frame, in which protestors assert their right to what they feel they should have but has not been delivered or has been stolen from them by dictators. In the cases we consider, protestors reclaimed their right to (1) integrity of governance; (2) a proud nation, and (3) the dignity of the victims of state violence. They framed their struggle as a redefinition of the relationship between state and citizens. Identifying the master frame of reclamation as central to the Arab Uprisings, we argue that it helps us understand how protestors sustained mobilization over days and weeks in the face of brutal repressions. We suggest that it opens avenues for research on protests in authoritarian regimes.

Injustice is perceived, experienced and articulated. Social movements, and their constitutive parts, frame and re-frame these senses of injustice. Two often-overlapping accounts of social movements are in focus in this chapter. Human geography has been flooded with movement-based analyses of environmental justice (EJ). Sociology (more appropriately political sociology) has provided insight into social movements in the form of ‘contentious politics’ (CP). Building on both sets of literature, this chapter seeks to advance thought in human geography through a detailed exploration of master and collective action framing. It argues, firstly, that framing analysis challenges activist researchers to retain ‘spatial constructs’ as their central focus, rather than discourse. It calls, secondly, for us to unbind injustice as much as justice in our analysis of framing. And lastly, it demands a multi-spatial perspective on framing beyond simply scalar accounts.

Social movement scholars have profitably used framing theory to understand how movement demands resonate within different political and cultural climates. To be more useful, however, the theory's analytic vocabulary needs to be sharpened and clarified. To that end, this paper specifies the relationships between collective action frames, master frames, and ideology through a case study of the living wage movement. While concepts such as frame-bridging are critical in understanding how social movement demands resonate, these ideas need to be broadened to show how movements go beyond “fit” in negotiating the tension between their aspirations and the sobering realities of politics. I use the term economics of morality to convey the difficulty inherent in translating moral demands into policy solutions. A successful framing strategy must be pragmatic enough to compromise for short-term goals, but only in a manner that does not undermine the integrity of a movement's ideals and its long-term vision.

The environmental justice perspective represents a significant reframing of the traditional environmental discourse. Although few scholars in the environmental field pay attention to environmental framing, it is extremely important in the field. Environmental activists, policymakers, government, politicians, and business have long perceived, contextualized, and battled over environmental issues by establishing frames of reference. Framing refers to the process by which individuals and groups identify, interpret, and express social and political grievances. It is a scheme of interpretations that guides the way in which ideological meanings and beliefs are packaged by movement activists and presented to would-be supporters. Beliefs are important because they can be defined as ideas that might support or retard action in pursuit of desired values, goals, or outcomes. Social movement collective action frames are injustice frames because they are developed in opposition to already existing, established, widely accepted ideas, values, and beliefs. However, the social movement frames are intended to identify, highlight, and/or define unjust social conditions. Activists trying to develop new frames have to overcome the hurdle that many people (including would-be supporters) might accept the established or hegemonic frame as normal and/or tolerable. Collective action frames deny the immutability of undesirable conditions and promote the possibility of change through group action. Hence, social movement activists become potential social change agents in charge of their own destiny. They feel empowered to alter conditions (Goffman, 1974; Snow & Benford, 1992, 1988; Snow, Rochford, Worden, & Benford, 1986; Turner & Killian, 1987; Piven & Cloward, 1979, p. 12; McAdam, 1982; Gamson, 1992; Gamson & Meyer, 1996).

Purpose – This chapter examines the factors that influence the ability of anti-gentrification movements to get media coverage for their core policy goals. It takes, as a point of departure, the suggestion that the media supports the growth machine and is not inclined to provide favorable coverage to movements trying to limit development.

Design/methodology/approach – In comparing six newspapers’ coverage of anti-gentrification movements in San Francisco's Mission District and West Oakland, we suggest a more nuanced theoretical understanding of media coverage of urban movements against development. The analysis of newspaper articles published in six Bay Area newspapers from 1995 to 2005 illustrates tremendous variations in favorability of coverage between the two movements.

Findings – There are also large variations in the extent to which movements’ core policy goals are represented in newspaper articles. Although the Mission District received more coverage than the West Oakland movement, the West Oakland movement was better able in getting its core policy goals into its coverage than the Mission District movement. The West Oakland movement was more effective in generating media attention for its core policy goals through its organized public protests than the Mission District movement.

Originality/value – This chapter adds to the genre of research analyzing newspaper coverage of social movements. It demonstrates that the coverage is more nuanced than previously reported. Factors such as phase in the movement and the framing of the issues are related to whether the media covers the story in a negative or positive manner.

The elaboration of framing in social movement theory offers a different perspective than is typically taken in social marketing. This paper explores how social marketing may benefit from this alternate lens.

The construction, features and processes associated with collective action frames in social movements are examined and explored via two social causes: obesity and disaster preparation.

A social movement perspective on framing highlights the need to better understand variations in how groups may perceive a problem and its solutions. It suggests a range of considerations and options in constructing and participating in the development of collective action frames, which are suggested to benefit social marketing initiatives and, thus, society.

Further research in societal well-being and the meso-level of social change should consider adopting a social movement framing perspective. A list of questions is provided to guide future research.

Mobilising a group into action is often a necessary and effective step in realising social change. The questions raised in social movement framing will equip practitioners and researchers with greater understanding of the issue, the context and potential solutions, ultimately to encourage positive social movements and social benefit.

While calls have been made for broader perspectives in social marketing, little attention has been given to social movements. This paper offers a way forward with respect to framing.

Purpose – This chapter analyzes two environmental conflicts in Southeast Michigan. It analyzes how activists in each community framed each conflict and what factors prevented the groups from collaborating.

Design/methodology/approach – This essay uses a multi-method approach. Researchers used participant observation, interviews, and archival information gleaned from government documents and newspapers.

Findings – Both community groups had a common opponent – a corporation that had closed its facilities in a predominantly black, low-income urban community and relocated it to a predominantly white, middle-class, rural community. Both communities had complaints about pollution, yet they did not collaborate with each other in their campaigns against the corporation.

Originality/value – The essay blends two theoretical approaches – social movement and conflict theories – to help in the assessment of how the conflicts unfolded and why collaboration between activists in the two communities did not occur. This is one of the first attempts to analyze environmental justice conflicts from this perspective.

The frequent occurrence of stonethrowing by Palestinian boys presents a dilemma pulling activists in disparate directions, provoking contested interpretations of this tactic and forcing international human rights workers (HRWers) to weigh their relative commitments to nonviolence, noninterference, and solidarity with Palestinians. In tactical discussions, local activists and HRWers often frame stonethrowing by referencing historical nonviolent templates, sometimes to legitimize “limited violence” and sometimes to condemn it. Building from fieldwork and interviews, I argue that memory templates serve as master frames that aid in interpreting protest actions, perhaps especially in settings where heterogeneous teams of international activists seek common frames of reference as they negotiate a developing praxis in a new context. Nevertheless, these templates were sometimes constructed through highly selective readings of the multilayered discourse and complex biographies of such figures as Gandhi and King. While the “hermeneutic circle” anticipates such selective readings, I argue that even the multivocal, sometimes contradictory, Gandhi and King texts can be remembered and applied in patterns that appear co-optive to the opposing camps of principled and pragmatic nonviolent adherents. Grounded in HRWer deliberations in the field, the core theoretical contribution of this paper maps out discursive strategies activists employ as they leverage memory templates in tactical debates.

The main objective of this chapter is to explore the potential and applicability of framing, a multidisciplinary and multiparadigmatic ‘metatheory’ of sense-making through communication, or media effects specifically, in guiding higher education research. To reach this objective, the author first synthesized theoretical discussions on framing in different disciplines, collated the core concepts developed around the framing concept and developed a universal framing process model, to be applied with the introduction of a theme and the selection of research paradigms. Following that, the author provided an overview of the application of the framing concept in higher education research and explored the potential application of the model to guide and coordinate framing research in the field.

The paper iaims to investigate the evolution of discourses, claims and actor positions during the German and French examination of legislation aimed at introducing state-mandated website blocking measures of sexual child images (often referred to as “child pornography”).

The focus lies on the opportunities and difficulties for opponents of internet blocking measures to form discourse coalitions that challenge the frames articulated and normalised by power elites. While critics of mandatory internet blocking were ignored at the outset of the debate, their frames have eventually been adopted and debated by proponents of internet blocking in Germany.

Activists successfully criticised the effectiveness of introducing internet blocking measures, which led to the final abandonment of the bill. In France, the debate remained largely confined to online media, where critics voiced their opposition but did not succeed in influencing the broader policy agenda, which was primarily concerned with security issues. Both cases offer important insights for the study of internet filtering and blocking from a comparative perspective.

Both cases offer important insights for the study of internet filtering and blocking from a comparative perspective.