On Movement Frames and Negotiated Identities: The Case of Poland's First Solidarity Congress

How do participants in a social movement come to agree on goals and strategies? Recent scholarship has moved in two theoretical directions. Some writers focus on movement leaders and their efforts to excite and attract potential supporters by formulating a vision that conveys optimism and moral outrage, yet is congruent with long-standing popular beliefs. Other writers focus far less on leaders and their frames and insist, instead, that movements are organizationally decentralized and typically lack consensus on goals and strategies. From this second perspective, programs are best seen as the byproducts of ongoing clashes and messy negotiations between a myriad of local activists with different beliefs, diverse values, and frequently divergent interests. Using the First Solidarity Congress as a historical case study, this article argues for the utility of combining both approaches – one that focuses on leaders’ ongoing efforts to build consensus around a seemingly effective frame, and the other that stresses the extent of intra-movement discord and the decentralized nature of movement organizations.