Corn, Klansmen, and Coolidge: Structure and Framing in Social Movements

Abstract

This article examines how structural conditions and social movement frames interactto influence mobilization and political consequences 01 social movements.Mobilization efforts benefit when movement framing is congruent with localstructural conditions. This mobilization, in turn, produces politicalleverage for the movement through its capacity to deliver support of its members and adherents. Its political advantage may be offtet, however, if another of its key framing activities, the construction ofcollective identity boundaries, alienates the broader populatton and stimulates a backlash. Such backlash is also intimately connected to structural conditions because its potential is a function of the characteristics of the local population -specifically, the proportion of the population alienated by the movement's boundary construction. We apply these arguments to the case of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and show that while the Klan's diagnostic and prognostic framing may have resonated structurally and facilitated the Klan's mobilization efforts, its exclusionary boundaries frustrated its attempts to secure broader political gains.

Organized Racism and the Stranger

“…Racist organizations often appeal to the economic interests of potential recruits, arguing that foreigners or members of racial and ethnic minority groups pose a threat to their livelihood (Dobratz and Shanks-Meile, 1997;McVeigh, 2004). They point to affirmative action, free trade agreements, or other policies and legislation, as evidence for their belief that the U.S. government is more concerned with the rights of foreigners, immigrants, or minority group members than with the rights of White Americans (Dobratz and Shanks-Meile, 1997).…”

“…A flawed diagnosis and a misguided prognosis of a particular problem can still motivate action if the diagnosis and prognosis seem plausible. The resonance of a collective action frame is partly determined by local conditions that can restrict access to information that could challenge the credibility of the frame (McVeigh et al, 2003;McVeigh, 2004). We argue that contemporary racist groups' framing of a wide variety of social issues should resonate most strongly where non-White individuals are constrained to the position of the stranger.…”

“…More generally, the exaggerated and false claims that racist leaders make about racial enemies require a certain degree of distance between potential recruits and racial and ethnic minorities. Without such distance, the inaccuracies of these claims would be obvious to their targeted audience (McVeigh, 2004).…”

The Place of Framing: Multiple Audiences and Antiwar Protests near Fort Bragg

“…Framing disputes may be fundamentally tactical in nature. Within a coalition, participants may fear that the use of a particular frame will direct attention away from their issues or concerns (Babb, 1996;Benford, 1993), overextend the movement in a way that dilutes its strength (Snow & Benford, 1988, p. 206), or create backlash by the opposition (Zald & Useem, 1987;McVeigh, Myers, & Sikkink, 2004;Meyer & Staggenborg, 1996). Participants in a countermovement may fear that a particular frame will allow the movement to convey its false messages effectively or otherwise mislead the public (Evans, 1997).…”

Regulating Pavement Dwellers: The Politics of the Visibly Poor in Public Space

“…Researchers have called to examine the interconnections between these different areas to understand how structure and agency both influence social change (Meyer, 2002). Empirical research has found that framing is most effective when it fits within the political opportunity structures (McVeigh, Myers, & David, 2004). Others have found that the actors in social movements shape and change frames as movements develop and tactics change (Holland, 2009;Ryan & Gamson, 2006).…”