Storytelling, Identity, and Strategy

Abstract

How do activists perceive and interpret changing obstacles and opportunities? Studying narratives can help us to address unanswered questions about activist perception and attribution of the opportunity structure. I analyze the stories told by activists in the movement to legalize abortion in Buenos Aires, Argentina, drawing on ethnographic and interview data from three periods of fieldwork over the last 15 years. Although they talked about obstacles in many ways, I find that activists turned to storytelling when their hopeful expectations about politicians were disappointed. Stories about powerful allies are part of a social movement’s discursive repertoire that acts as a foundation for later interactions. Interpreting motives for past actions through storytelling helps activists to deliberate about practical responses and to imagine future tactics. Narrative study is a fruitful way to examine how people perceive opportunities and can help us understand how prior experiences shape present deliberation and future strategy.