Social movement frames are leadership-produced worldviews that give activists ideological context.

Evidence

While relevant for the broader debate on class consciousness and identity, our analysis focuses upon two more concrete elements: frames and boundaries. A frame is a specific concept developed in social movement research to address the symbolic construction of an external reality. Frames can be defined as dominant worldviews guiding the behavior of social movement groups. They are very often produced by the organizational leadership, which provides the necessary ideological background within which individual activists locate their actions. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds, 33

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘frame’ — a social-movement concept for symbolic construction of reality, unit of analysis for the article’s core comparison.
• XREF: Connects to Snow and Benford’s classic framing literature; framing as leadership-driven resonates with Gramscian hegemony and how movements manufacture consent/identity from above. — connects to: Social movements convert existing cultural frames into local meanings enabling organized violence — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 1005; Leaders politicize groups by embodying the shared identity that makes their frames normative — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4439; Movements differ from parties by making ideology an organizing principle — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 629 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Leaders politicize groups by embodying the shared identity that makes their frames normative #expands (0.82) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4439
• Leaders strategically define social categories to advance their mobilization projects #expands (0.80) — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 80
• Movements differ from parties by making ideology an organizing principle #corroborates (0.78) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 629
• Social movements succeed by offering adherents a new self-understanding #corroborates (0.75) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 162
• Uncritical worldviews are mechanically imposed by one’s social environment #complicates (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1167
• Movements transformed ideologies from justification into organizational principles #expands (0.75)
• Ideology is best conceived as systems of signifiers shaping social action. #expands (0.74) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 823
• Leaders substantiate identity rhetoric through social practices that enact the desired vision #qualifies (0.72) — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 114
• Social movements convert existing cultural frames into local meanings enabling organized violence #complicates (0.70) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 1005