Framing and Social Movements: a Case-Study on the Israeli J14 Movement
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FRAMING AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A CASE-STUDY ON THE ISRAELI J14 MOVEMENT Master thesis Merel Heupers Student number: 10659242 MSc Political Science – Public Policy and Governance University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Supervisor: dr. Farid Boussaid Second reader: dr. Dimitris Bouris Word count: 16.300 Date: 22 June 2018 1 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................ 6 2.1 Defining social movements .......................................................................................... 6 2.2 The emergence of social movements ............................................................................ 7 2.3 Social movement characteristics .................................................................................. 8 2.4 Social movement theories ............................................................................................ 9 2.5 Social movements and framing theory ....................................................................... 10 2.6 Collective action frames ............................................................................................ 11 2.7 Core framing tasks ..................................................................................................... 12 2.8 Frame alignment processes ....................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 18 3.1 An interpretive method: frame analysis ..................................................................... 18 3.2 Conducting a case study: pros and cons .................................................................... 19 CHAPTER FOUR: THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND OF ISRAEL . 21 4.1 The security situation ................................................................................................. 21 4.2 The decline of the welfare state ................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER FIVE: THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT ................................................. 25 5.1 Turmoil in the Middle East ........................................................................................ 25 5.2 Global dissent ............................................................................................................ 25 CHAPTER SIX: FRAME ANALYSIS ................................................................................ 27 6.1 DIAGNOSTIC FRAMING .................................................................................................... 27 6.1.1 Identifying the problem ........................................................................................... 27 6.1.2 Apportioning blame ................................................................................................ 29 6.2 PROGNOSTIC FRAMING .................................................................................................... 30 6.2.1 Strategies and tactics .............................................................................................. 30 6.2.2 Offering solutions ................................................................................................... 33 6.3 MOTIVATIONAL FRAMING ............................................................................................... 34 6.4 FRAME BRIDGING ............................................................................................................ 36 6.5 FRAME AMPLIFICATION ................................................................................................... 37 6.5.1 Value amplification ................................................................................................. 38 6.5.2 Belief amplification ................................................................................................. 39 6.6 FRAME EXTENSION .......................................................................................................... 39 6.6.1 Enlarging frames .................................................................................................... 39 6.6.2 A lack of frame extension? ...................................................................................... 41 6.7 FRAME TRANSFORMATION .............................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 46 2 Chapter one: introduction In the summer of 2011, the largest political mobilisation in the history of the nation of Israel took place (Schipper 2015: 1141). Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country united, holding various political viewpoints and representing different socio-economic classes. What started as a protest against the lack of affordable housing, soon developed into a widely supported movement addressing all kinds of socio-economic issues. Citizens took to the streets to protest against the consequences of decades of neoliberal policies. Demonstrations all over Israel were characterised by the slogan “the people demand social justice!” (Wallach 2012: 152). Over the last decades, public discourse in Israel had centred around security matters, while socio-economic matters were pushed aside (Schipper 2015: 1141). Yet, in 2011, a newly emerged movement managed to put socio-economic grievances at the top of the national agenda. This movement went by the name of the ‘J14 movement’, referring to July 14, the day the first protest started (Sasley 2012). The J14 movement is an example of a social movement. Social movements have become a highly studied phenomenon among social scientists, as they provide important insights into mobilisation processes and can have a profound effect on how societies are organised (Johnston 2014: 153). Many theories on social movements exist. One of these approaches concerns framing theory. It involves the use of framing by social movements in order to mobilise both consensus and support (Klandermans 1984: 586). According to Coy (2007), the degree to which social movements make use of frames, determines their success (204). Snow and Benford (1988) have categorised different framing types used by social movements, known as the core framing tasks and frame alignment processes (199). This thesis seeks to gain insights in framing activities of social movements. Therefore, a case- study on the framing activities of the Israeli J14 movement is conducted. A frame analysis is carried out as part of this case-study, which focuses on understanding how meanings are shaped by the movement. The central research question of this thesis is as follows: In what ways has the J14 movement made use of framing to mobilise consensus and support? 3 The central question of this thesis had led to the following sub-questions: 1) In what context did the J14 movement emerge? 2) Which core framing tasks are used by the J14 movement, and how are these expressed? 3) Which frame alignment processes are used by the J14 movement, and how are these expressed? A rich literature can be found on framing theory within the field of social movements (Benford and Snow 2000: 613). Although it is a relatively young theory, it has attracted much attention from scholars (ibid.). The theoretical framework of this thesis takes a closer look at social movement framing theory, elaborating on the core framing tasks and alignment processes as formulated by Snow and Benford. Many studies have focused on examining framing activities of social movements. Yet, it is beyond the scope of this thesis to review the large number of available articles on the topic. In its broadest sense, this study seeks to add to the existing literature on framing theory within the field of social movements. By conducting a case-study, insights are gained into how social movements make use of framing. More specifically, this thesis seeks to add on the existing literature about the Israeli J14 movement. While some scholars have studied the J14 movement since its emergence in 2011, it remains an understudied topic up until today. Few studies on the J14 movement have been carried out by scholars, all highlighting different aspects. Wallach (2012) examined how the J14 movement made use of public spaces (150). By doing so, he concluded that protesters made use of iconic national spaces, which became symbols of unity, appealing to all kinds of sectors in a fragmented society (ibid.: 153). Allweil (2013) studied how the housing issue was able to unite different groups in Israeli society (41). As Israel was founded with the idea that the Jewish people would find a ‘national home’, she argued that it stood in stark contrast with the housing problems of 2011. In conclusion, Allweil argued that housing became a symbol of the social struggle for equality by Israeli citizens (66-67). Grinberg (2013) examined the emergence of the J14 movement in light of the level of external threats to Israel (491-492). He described how the movement was able to emerge in a period when external threats to Israel had diminished. However, when these threats increased, Grinberg argued that the movement was unable to maintain support (ibid.). 4 Schipper (2016) conducted