International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2019

Abstract egalitarianism and men as victims: strategic choice of frames by men’s rights organisations(Abstract)

Zachary D. Palmer and Mangala Subramaniam

Departing from the typical emphasis on the oppressed and the frames they deploy to make claims for rights, we analyse the frames deployed by a dominant group – in this case, organisations within the men’s rights movement. Adopting a purposive comparative lens, we examine how men’s rights organisations strategically shape and use frames across the sub-national, national, and transnational levels. Using textual data from the websites of three men’s rights organisations – a US-based transnational organisation, one national organisation based in India, and one sub-national organisation based in Pune, India – we discern two key frames deployed by the organisations: abstract egalitarianism and men as victims. However, the organisations emphasise different aspects of each of the two frames based on cultural context, either focusing on specific laws and their implementation or adopting a notion of a general “global culture”.