Framing Contests and Their Consequences for Institutionalizing Intractable Conflicts

This paper examines how framing contests in two environmental disputes become institutionalized through recurring practices that cross micro-, meso- and macro-levels. Framing refers to the struggles over meanings in the use of labels that disputants employ to define, co-construct and explain conflict situations. Specifically, this paper shows how identity and characterization framing and ritualized interactions develop into self-reinforcing patterns that perpetuate intractable conflicts. It also uncovers factors in the outcomes of the disputes that might enable the dismantling of institutionalized conflicts.