Competing Frames of Environmental Contamination: Influences on Grassroots Community Mobilization

This article provides an analysis of competing frames of environmental contamination in a working class neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. Through in-depth interviewing, document analysis, and participant observation, I locate and analyze emerging frames presented from local media and government sources. I argue that the most prominent frames emerged by means of local media and government, as residents referred to these most commonly as sources for their understanding of the issues facing their community. However, the information they were most likely to portray was based on resident activist and scientific reports, respectively. I argue that these frames competed in a way that challenged mobilization efforts. How do individuals work together when they may believe entirely different frameworks as explanations of the problems they seek to resolve? Framing influences which message individuals hear, which they choose to adopt, and whether they react. In this case, two prominent frames emerging from media and government sources influence mobilization outcomes by creating community divisions and unifications, based on the source residents choose to believe.