From protest to product: strategic frame brokerage in a commercial social movement organization

Social movement organizations that engage directly in commercial activities face the particular challenge of mobilizing movement activists and commercial actors simultaneously. In a seven-year case study of a Sicilian anti-racket social movement organization that uses commercial activities to combat Mafia racketeering, we show how strategic framing enables such dual mobilization. Our findings show that original anti-racket social movement frames were modified through a process of strategic frame brokerage that incorporated, through interaction, the distributed interpretations of tourists, tourism service providers, and anti-racket activists. As a result of this process, original social movement frames were retained, transformed, or managed through selective referral. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on processes of frame development, social enterprise, and commercialization as a “mobilizing technology” for social movements.