Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Activists’ Strategic Communication In An Authoritarian Setting: Integrating Social Movement Framing Into Issues Management, Hue Trong Duong, Hong Tien Vu, Nhung Nguyen

Communication Faculty Publications

Triangulating 18 in-depth interviews with activists and campaign participants, news coverage, and social media content related to the campaign “6,700 people for 6,700 trees,” this study integrates social movement framing theory and issues management framework to examine activists’ strategic communications in an authoritarian setting. Results indicate activists’ sophisticated use of framing strategies following different stages of the issue life cycle to legitimately form an issue and successfully manage the issue in order to achieve their goals. This study offers meaningful theoretical implications for examining strategic communication in social movement campaigns. It also discusses practical lessons for applying these strategies to …