Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 20 Dec 2010
A Battle for Authenticity: An Examination of the Constraints on Anti-Iraq War and Pro-Invasion Tactics
A Battle for Authenticity: An Examination of the Constraints on Anti-Iraq War and Pro-Invasion Tactics
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Page Range: 511 – 533
Social movements are arenas where individuals can voice concerns about politics, culture, and social change. Movements work to create frames and collective identities that resonate with the public and bind participants together. However, movement participants are not always completely free to cultivate and adopt frames and identities. The emergence of countermovements, in particular, can fundamentally affect these tactics. However, we find that frame and identity resonance can also be influenced by other factors and conditions. We explore these issues based on participant observation and interviews with activists at two ongoing anti-Iraq war protests and one ongoing pro-invasion protest, both of which occurred over a three-month period in early 2003. We find that local context, movementcountermovement dynamics, the ability to assuage oppositional challenges, and intramovement unity and cooperation shape overall movement trajectories and success.
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