Title

How Glitter Bombing Lost its Sparkle: The Emergence and Decline of a Novel Social Movement Tactic

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2016

Publication Source

Mobilization

Abstract

This article explores the case of glitter bombing, a short-lived form of protest in the LGBT rights movement, to understand the mechanisms behind the decline of a novel tactic. To date, little attention has been directed toward tactics that have disappeared from movement repertoires. Using interview data, I find that glitter bombing declined due to many of the same factors that initially provided momentum for its diffusion. First, it was specific to LGBT rights to the degree that the audience of potential adopters was limited. At the same time, the radical nature of glitter bombing meant that adopters were peripheral movement actors who lacked organizational support. Activists dedicated limited resources to gaining media attention and online popularity, often at the cost of other crucial aspects of mobilization. Finally, an increase in repression multiplied these challenges by posing risks to adopters and shifting media coverage away from the tactic's celebratory framing.

Inclusive pages

259-282

ISBN/ISSN

1086-671X

Comments

Document is made available for download with the permission of the author and the publisher. All rights reserved. Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

Mobilization

Volume

21

Issue

3

Peer Reviewed

yes

Link to Full Text

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