“We Must Work… Toward Justice in Action”: Grievances, Claims Making, and Spillover in the Idle No More Movement

Abstract

The Idle No More (INM) movement emerged in reaction to Bill C-45, the Canadian Jobs and Growth Act, in November 2012, inspiring a new wave of activism. Central to the movement’s grievances are Indigenous resistance and environmental justice (EJ), positioning INM’s activities against neo-colonialism, exploitation, and environmental degradation. We build upon existing EJ movements, Indigenous Peoples/Indigenous Environmental Justice (IEJ) movements, and social movement spillover, grievance, and claims making literatures to understand the role of shared movement narratives in encouraging mobilization. INM relies on social media to educate members and construct and communicate movement goals and actions. Analyzing 6 months of Facebook comments, reflecting the INM movement’s emergence period, we argue that INM activists employ structural grievances embedded in previous EJ and Indigenous resistance movements, combined with emerging (incidental) grievances to articulate shared claims that address inequality and justice, appealing to a range of potential supporters. We offer an analysis of the emergent INM movement to consider the active intersection of EJ, Indigenous Peoples, and IEJ movements to mobilize and sustain movement activities in spite of Bill C-45’s passage.