Author:

Marcelo Gómez

Abstract:

The so-called framing theory, or interpretive frameworks for understanding the phenomena of mobilization, protest, organization, and contentious collective action, has been developed in academic research for three decades. Twenty-nine years ago, David Snow’s article, “Framing Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Participation in Movements,” was published in the American Sociological Review (1986). In this article, the tools proposed by E. Goffman for capturing how people understand everyday interactions and define situations to orient themselves within them were applied for the first time to events such as participation in protests and social movements. In an article by Snow, Benford et al. (2014), celebrating the publication of this seminal work, a detailed assessment of its achievements and weaknesses, areas for future exploration and development, and perspectives for the framing approach is offered.