The “Women, Life, Freedom” (WLF) movement has been one of Iran’s most widespread social movements. This paper aims to identify the interpretive frames constructed within the movement from the perspective of analyzing its slogans and questioning the essence of the movement. In this regard, employing a quantitative approach and utilizing the content analysis method, it collects and analyzes all slogans reported (2355 slogans). The study finds that incomplete framing is a crucial aspect of the WLF movement, and it can be described as a “diagnostic movement” that has made significant progress in identifying the primary target of the protests.
AdnanS (2023) The Iranian movement, women, life, and freedom: a content analysis of reactions to the protests on Facebook. Crossing Borders: Student Reflections on Global Social Issues5(1): 1–5.
2.
AfaryJAndersonKB (2023) Woman, life, freedom: the origins of the uprising in Iran. Dissent70(1): 82–98.
3.
AshtianiHM (2023) The rhymes of Zhina movement content analysis of revolutionary and protest music of Iran 2022. Freedom of Thought Journal13: 29.
4.
BenfordRDSnowDA (2000) Framing processes and social movements: an overview and assessment. Annual Review of Sociology26(1): 611–639.
5.
DabiriA (2023) “Woman, life, freedom”: a movement in progress in Iran. Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence8(1): 5.
6.
Della PortaDDianiM (2020) Social Movements: An Introduction. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
7.
DianiMDella PortaD (2005) Social Movements: An Introduction. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishing.
8.
DriskoJWMaschiT (2016) Content Analysis (Pocket Guide to Social Work Research Methods). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9.
GoffmanE (1974) Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
HamannK (2023) “Frauen. Leben. Freiheit.”—Die feministische Revolution in Iran. Zeitschrift Für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik16: 353–363.
11.
Ham-KucharskiAJ (2022) “Women, life, freedom”: media and uprisings in Iran. Student Work4: 39502.
12.
JohnstonH (2014) What Is a Social Movement?Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
13.
KazemzadehM (2023) Mass Protests in Iran: From Resistance to Overthrow. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
14.
KermaniH (2020) Decoding Telegram: Iranian users and “produsaging” discourses in Iran’s 2017 presidential election. Asiascape: Digital Asia7(1–2): 88–121.
15.
KermaniH (2023) #MahsaAmini: Iranian Twitter activism in times of computational propaganda. Social Movement Studies. Epub ahead of print 20 February. DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2023.2180354.
16.
KetelaarsP (2016) What strikes the responsive chord? The effects of framing qualities on frame resonance among protest participants. Mobilization: An International Quarterly21(3): 341–360.
17.
KhaliliM (2023) From “green movement” to “woman, life, freedom”: continuity and change in the evolution of the protest movement in Iran. Protest3(1): 133–140.
18.
KhatamA (2023) Mahsa Amini’s killing, state violence, and moral policing in Iran. Human Geography16(3): 299–306.
19.
KhazraeeE (2019) Mapping the political landscape of Persian Twitter: the case of 2013 presidential election. Big Data & Society6(1): 2053951719835232.
20.
KrippendorffK (2019) Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology. 4th ed.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
21.
LindekildeL (2014) Discourse and frame analysis: in-depth analysis of qualitative data in social movement research. In: della PortaD (ed.) Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.195–227.
22.
LuX (1999) An ideological/cultural analysis of political slogans in communist China. Discourse & Society10(4): 487–508.
23.
MarchantJSabetiABowenK, et al. (2016) #Iranvotes: political discourse on Iranian Twitter during the 2016 parliamentary elections. Berkman Center Research Publication. Available at: https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/27377992
24.
MehrabiT (2023) Woman, life, freedom: on protests in Iran and why it is a feminist movement. Kvinder, Køn & Forskning34(2): 114–121.
MohammadpourA (2024) Decolonizing voices from Rojhelat: gender-othering, ethnic erasure, and the politics of intersectionality in Iran. Critical Sociology50(1): 85–106.
28.
MolanaHRanjbarAMRazaviS (2023) Woman, life, freedom: decoding the feminist uprising in Iran. Political Geography103: 102834.
29.
NoakesJAJohnstonH (2005) Frames of protest: a road map to a perspective. In: JohnstonHNoakesJA (eds) Frames of Protest: Social Movements and the Framing Perspective. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.1–29.
30.
ParsaM (2020) Authoritarian survival: Iran’s Republic of repression. Journal of Democracy31(3): 54–68.
31.
PeoplesC (2019) Classical and contemporary conventional theories of social movements. In: BerberogluB (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Movements, Revolution, and Social Transformation. Cham: Springer, pp.17–34.
32.
RahimiB (2016) Vahid online: post-2009 Iran and the politics of citizen media convergence. Social Sciences5(4): 77.
33.
RivettiPSaeidiS (2023) Political convergence, surpluses of activism, and genealogy: examining Iran’s quasi-revolutionary situation. Iranian Studies56(3): 563–568.
34.
RoggebandCKlandermansB (2017) Handbook of Social Movements across Disciplines. Cham: Springer.
35.
RouhiM (2022) Woman, life, freedom in Iran. Survival64(6): 189–196.
36.
Sadeghi-BoroujerdiE (2023) Iran’s uprisings for “women, life, freedom”: over-determination, crisis, and the lineages of revolt. Politics43(3): 404–438.
ShahiAAbdoh-TabriziE (2020) Iran’s 2019–2020 demonstrations: the changing dynamics of political protests in Iran. Asian Affairs51(1): 1–41.
39.
SnowDByrdS (2007) Ideology, framing processes, and Islamic terrorist movements. Mobilization: An International Quarterly12(2): 119–136.
40.
SnowDABenfordRD (1988) Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization. International Social Movement Research1: 197–217.
41.
SnowDABenfordRD (1992) Master frames and cycles of protest. Frontiers in Social Movement Theory6: 133–155.
42.
SnowDARochfordEBWordenSK, et al. (1986) Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. American Sociological Review51(4): 464–481.
43.
SnowDAVliegenthartRKetelaarsP (2018) The framing perspective on social movements. In: SnowDAKriesiHMcCammonHJ, et al. (eds) The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp.392–410.
44.
TajaliM (2023) Women and politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the role of women’s magazines. In: SkalliLHEltantawyN (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Media and Communication in the Middle East and North Africa. Cham: Springer, pp.201–222.
45.
TasyaVDSaragihA (2021) Humorous discourse on Indonesian students’ protest slogans. Transform: Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning10(4): 203–211.
