Making Sense of the Social Forum : On the Local Framing of a Fashionable Global Symbol

• The worldwide emergence of Social Forums (SF), originating from Porto Alegre (Brazil) in 2001, is a key element in the movement for global justice. A growing body of literature on the forums concerns its function as a transnational venue for civil society and a global symbol for resistance against neoliberalism. However, little empirical research is carried out on the local meanings of the widespread SFs. This article reports on a case study on the organizational process of a local forum in a Swedish town. The analysis focuses on intracoalitional interaction among activists from the labor movement, Attac, and a local cultural institution. The importance of considering local framing processes and the often-neglected influence of fashion when studying the emergence of SFs is emphasized. Findings show how the dichotomy the Old versus the New became crucial in the framing process. Framed as a novelty contrasted with "old" socialist values, the SF was rejected by the labor movement activists as just another expression of a contemporary neoliberal trend of depoliticization. Implications for the study of the social forum phenomenon are discussed.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialantropologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Anthropology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

social movement organizations; social forums; framing; fashion

Ethnography

Etnografi

Education

Pedagogik

Education

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)