Strategic Framing Work(s): How Microcredit Loans Facilitate Anti-Witch-Hunt Movements

Abstract

This article shows how a social movement organization focused on microcredit loans is able to mobilize a community against its own cultural practice of witch-hunts. Successful mobilization against witch-hunts are possible when two conditions are met: first, when activists are able to tap into microcredit groups' social capacity for collective mobilization (defined by ties of mutual dependence, reciprocity, and friendship); and second, when activists are able to use strategic framing to present a coherent argument about the congruence of microcredit and anti-witch-hunt goals. In this context a master frame (women's development) emerged that effectively forged the seemingly disparate goals of microcredit loans and anti-witch-hunt campaigns into one synthetic movement. In contrast, successful mobilization against witch-hunts was difficult in areas where the activists did not have access to the microcredit networks or were not able to strategically frame the campaign.

Understanding participation dilemmas in community mobilisation: can collective action theory help?

“…Many intrinsic benefits depend on individual perceptions of community issues; thus, skilled communication and ‘framing’67 of issues is crucial for activating them as motivations for collective action. For example, feminist microcredit non-government organisations in rural India successfully coordinated a number of large-scale protests against witch-hunts among tribal women by framing them as part of their struggle for independence from abusive husbands and exploitative employers 68…”

What Strikes the Responsive Chord? The Effects of Framing Qualities on Frame Resonance among Protest Participants*

“…Frame qualities and the strategic functions of frames are gaining attention in social movement research. Some scholars focus on the influence of frame characteristics on movement consequences, like cultural change (Snow, Tan, and Owens 2013) and political outcomes (McCammon, Muse, and Newman 2007), and others discuss the effect on mobilization processes, like facilitating collective action (Chakravarty and Chaudhuri 2012) and recruiting new members (Mika 2006). This area of research has shown that frames with certain qualities have greater persuasive power than others.…”

Women as Easy Scapegoats

“…I obtained the total number of NGOs that worked in the district of Jalpaiguri (56) from the district government record office. Out of these, only one worked to eradicate witch hunts; this was the NGO that helped me get access to the field (see Chakravarty & Chaudhuri, 2012, for details). Using the incident data set and with assistance from the NGO, I was able to access the locations where the hunts took place over the prior 2 years.…”