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Week4_lecture_Claimsmakers.pptxClaimsmakers
Lecture 4
Module 4
Prof Rennie Lee
Social Problems SYG 2010
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Activists as Claims Makers
Claims makers are ‘people who articulate and promote claims’ and their cause is benefited ‘in some way if the targeted audience accepts their claims as true’ (Ferrante 2011, p. 178).
Ferrante, J. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 8 ed. Belmont, C.A., U.S.A.: Wadsworth.
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Types of Activist Claimsmakers
Small activist groups make claims.
So do large well-known organizations.
How might claimsmaking be different for these two groups?
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Types of Activist Claimsmakers
Outsider claimsmakers
They do not hold powerful positions or have strong ties to those who do.
They have to work hard to get and maintain an audience’s attention.
For outsider claimsmakers, attracting media attention is important for successful claims-making (Ferrante 2011, p. 169).
E.g., Activists, Social Movements
Ferrante, J. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 8 ed. Belmont, C.A., U.S.A.: Wadsworth.
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Types of Activist Claimsmakers
Insider claimsmakers
They are already close to sources of power and can conduct claimsmaking without relying on media coverage to be heard.
E.g., Lobbyists, Pressure Groups
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Types of Activist Claimsmakers
Social movements are overarching large-scale causes.
Social movements may contain smaller, more narrowly focused groups, or social movement organizations (SMOs).
Social movements and SMOs often provoke countermovements.
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Studying Social Movements
Activists construct claims by framing them within a larger cultural context.
Three kinds of frames
Diagnostic frames identify the nature of the troubling condition.
Motivational frames discuss why individuals ought to care about the condition.
Prognostic frames explain what needs to be done to solve the troubling condition.
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Studying Social Movements
Four types of frame alignment:
Frame bridging reaches out to people who hold similar frames and support similar causes.
Frame amplification calls on widely held values to rally others to the cause.
Frame extension enlarges the cause’s frame to encompass wider concerns.
Frame transformation calls on people to adopt a new, different frame.
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Studying Social Movements
Frame disputes often arise between different SMOs within the same movement.
SMOs may think about the social problem differently, target different audiences, respond differently to counterclaims, or modify frames.
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Revolutionaries and Reformers
Movement diversity: social movements are rarely unified – there are varying objectives, strategies, and tactics.
Moderate versus Radical Factions
Immanuel Wallerstein (2003, pp. 653, 658) uses the terms anti-systemic (seeking to destroy the existing system which they believe has led to inequality) and integrationist (working to speed up progressive gains working within the current system) to highlight these different factions.
Haines, H. H. 1984. ‘Black Radicalization and the Funding of Civil Rights: 1957-1970’, Social Problems, 32(1): 31-43.
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BLACK PANTHER PARTY and CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1966: Civil Rights Movement gained momentum for nonviolent protest against racial segregation and equal rights
Black Power movement: Civil Rights not far enough—also need to protest systemic racism and discrimination facing Black Americans
Black Panther Party did not discount use of violence
Embraced Maclolm X ”by any means necessary”
Took to street with rifles
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Studying Social Movements
Social movement activities require resources.
Movements need money and donations, media coverage, members, skills, and so on.
Movements must assemble the resources they need (resource mobilization) and use them effectively.
Many SMOs compete for resources.
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Studying Social Movements
In contemporary America, social movement activity often revolves around fundraising.
Beneficiaries are those whom the proposed policy will benefit.
Constituents support the social movement.
Conscience constituents support the cause, though they do not expect to be direct beneficiaries.
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Studying Social Movements
In addition to framing and mobilizing resources, activists must be aware of timing.
At certain times, the obstacles to change are temporarily or permanently reduced.
This is the ideal time for activists to push.
The reduction of obstacles can be caused by cultural or political opportunities.
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Studying Social Movements
Cultural opportunities arise when the audience is more likely to listen to claims about a particular troubling condition.
This is often caused by a newsworthy event/ “spark” (e.g, the murder of George Floyd and BLM; Bloody Sunday and Voting Rights Act)
It also occurs when a master frame becomes familiar and easily applied to other conditions.
LGBTQ activists often rely on a frame introduced by the civil rights movement: that citizens can demand equal rights.
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John Lewis and Bloody Sunday
Social Problems
Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company
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Black Lives MAtter
Case Study of Outsider Claimsmaking
Black Lives Matter (BLM) – Origins
The movement began in 2013 with the use of #BlackLivesMatter on social media, following the outrage about the acquittal of George Zimmerman of the killing of young unarmed Black man Trayvon Martin in Florida.
The movement was formed by three Black women (Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi) and the focus is on all Black Lives
Decentralised movement with social media as central
BLM phrasing is used by a wide range of groups and individuals for different ends.
Campbell 2018; Ince, Rojas & Davis 2017.
See the end reference list for the full references.
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The Killing of Michael Brown as a Spark for BLM
Ince, Rojas & Davis 2017, pp. 1819-1820.
See the end reference list for the full reference.
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The Killing of Michael Brown as a Spark for BLM
Ince, Rojas & Davis 2017, pp. 1822.
See the end reference list for the full reference.
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Changing Opinions on BLM – Recent Developments
Cohn, N. & Quealy, K. 2020, ‘How Public Opinion Has Moved on Black Lives Matter’, The New York Times.
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George Floyd’s killing as a Spark for BLM
Cohn, N. & Quealy, K. 2020, ‘How Public Opinion Has Moved on Black Lives Matter’, The New York Times.
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Cultural Change: BLM on Sesame Street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBUFcv0y0yk&t=9s
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Cultural Change: NBA and BLM
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Cultural Change Beyond the USA: Sports
Australian Football League
Formula 1
McGowan, M. 2020, ‘WATCH: Players take a knee for Black Lives Matter’, AFL.
Clarke, C. 2020, ‘Formula One drivers take a knee in show of solidarity for anti-racism campaign’, CBS News.
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Cultural Change in Comedy
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Long-Term Impact of BLM
Social movements compete with other causes and other issues generally for media and public attention.
BLM movement heavily relies on media coverage to create public awareness of their cause.
Unlikely to sustain the progress at a similar rate as the media eventually moves on to other topics.
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Sparks for Social Movements and Their Impact on Public Opinion
Cohn, N. & Quealy, K. 2020, ‘How Public Opinion Has Moved on Black Lives Matter’, The New York Times.
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Gun Control advocates versus the NRA
Case Study of Outsider Versus Insider Claimsmaking
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Gun Control Advocates - Outsider Claimsmakers
Mobilise around sparks such as school shootings.
Far less members and resources than the NRA – in 2010:
E.g., The Brady Campaign
3 leading gun control organisations had budgets of less than $6 million.
Use the Internet to promote their message.
‘News coverage continues to be framed primarily according to the claims made by political and corporate insiders’ (Maratea 2015, p. 156).
Maratea 2015.
See the end reference list for the full reference.
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NRA – Insider Claimsmakers
Membership of over 4.5 million people in 2010.
Well-resourced – spent $278 million on lobbying and campaigning in 2010 and nearly $81 million of member communication in 2012.
Highly funded advertising campaigns.
Economic power – political power: able to lobby policymakers without generating public interest through media coverage
In 2012, the NRA contributed almost $700,000 to political candidates – more than 80% of NRA-backed candidates won.
The NRA can maximise the benefits of online claims-making as insiders, as they are well-recognised from mainstream media exposure and have the resources to be more visible in cyber-space.
Maratea 2015.
See the end reference list for the full reference.
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NRA has pushed legislation that stifles the study and spread of information about the causes of gun violence
Dickey Amendment of 1996: virtually halted all research on gun violence
In 2018, Congress passed bill giving CDC authority to resume gun-related studies but unclear whether it will have an effect
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Case Study: Disability Rights Activism
Insider claimsmaking has been significant in promoting a rights-based discourse around disability issues.
Throughout the 1970s, “institutional activists” (insiders) within the Senate and Congress attempted to incorporate disability issues into the Civil Rights Act
Consultation between the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) and disability advocates
In the mid-1970s, institutional/insider advocates encouraged outsider activists to protest against HEW due to its inaction on disability rights.
‘The work of insiders and the use of disruptive tactics need not be mutually exclusive or antithetical’ (Pettinicchio 2012, p. 506).
Pettinicchio 2012, pp. 505-506.
See the end reference list for the full reference.
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References (those not fully cited in slides)
Campbell, P. 2018, ‘Occupy, Black Lives Matter and Suspended Mediation: Young People’s Battles for Recognition in/between Digital and Non-digital Spaces’ Young, 26(2): 145-160.
Jelani Ince, J., Rojas, F. & Clayton A.D. 2017, ‘The social media response to Black Lives Matter: how Twitter users interact with Black Lives Matter through hashtag use’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(11), 1814-1830.
Liddle, C. 2013, ‘Indigenous Recognition Debate Deserves Better than this Political Jostling’, The Guardian.
Maratea, R.J. 2015, ‘Online Claims-Making: The NRA and Gun Advocacy in Cyberspace’, Qualitative Sociology Review, 11(2): 144-159.
References (those not fully cited in slides)
McCarthy, J. D., and M. N. Zald. 2001. The Enduring Vitality of the Resource Mobilization Theory of Social Movements. In Handbook of Sociological Theory, ed. J. H. Turner, 533-566. New York, U.S.A.: Springer.
Petray, T. & Pendergrast, N. 2018, ‘Challenging power and creating alternatives: Integrationist, anti-systemic and non-hegemonic approaches in Australian social movements’, Journal of Sociology, 54(4): 665-679.
Pettinicchio, D. 2012, ‘Institutional Activism: Reconsidering the Insider⁄Outsider Dichotomy’, Sociology Compass, 6(6): 499-510.
Wallerstein, I. 2003, ‘Citizens All? Citizens Some! The Making of the Citizen’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 45(4): 650-679.
