Framing processes and social movements: An overview and assessment

The recent proliferation of scholarship on collective action frames and fra ming processes in relation to social movements indicates that framing proce sses have come to be regarded, alongside resource mobilization and politica l opportunity processes, as a central dynamic in understanding the characte r and course of social movements. This review examines the analytic utility of the framing literature for understanding social movement dynamics. We f irst review how collective action frames have been conceptualized, includin g their characteristic and variable features. We then examine the literatur e related to framing dynamics and processes. Next we review the literature regarding various contextual factors that constrain and facilitate framing processes. We conclude with an elaboration of the consequences of framing p rocesses for other movement processes and outcomes. We seek throughout to p rovide clarification of the linkages between framing concepts/processes and other conceptual and theoretical formulations relevant to social movements , such as schemas and ideology.