Article

Journal of Communication Inquiry

2017, Vol. 41(1) 5–21
Affective Framing and ! The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0196859916667457

in Social Movements jci.sagepub.com

Miranda L. Y. Ma1

Abstract
With the increasing use of innovative and expressive dramaturgical actions in con-
temporary social movements, activists appeal to the public’s emotional and moral
convictions so as to elicit action. This study aims to investigate how the affective
framing process, composed of sensual–emotional dramaturgical actions, can unleash
the mobilizing and consolidating forces in social movements. I seek to elaborate upon
the cognitively confined framing perspective by expanding the theoretical discussion
to include the affective dimension of framing. I explore these issues through the
investigation of a resistance movement in Tsoi Yuen Village, a rural community in
Hong Kong, in which people rallied against the demolition of their community to
make way for a regional express railway connecting Hong Kong to China. Through
this investigation, I argue that dramaturgical tactics employed in social movements
enhance the affective mobilization and consolidation power of framing through the
mediation of emotional and moral components.

Keywords
social movement, mobilization, affective framing, dramaturgical action, framing

1
School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Shek Mun, Hong Kong
Corresponding Author:
Miranda L. Y. Ma, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Shek Mun Campus,
8 On Muk Street, Shek Mun, N.T., Hong Kong.
Email: miranda@hkbu.edu.hk
6 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

Introduction
In contemporary social movements, activists have increasingly resorted to the
use of innovative and sensually appealing tactics in order to engage the public.
Giant props, road blockades, and a variety of performances have been widely
employed in social movements so as to capture the public’s attention, to garner
sympathy, and even to stimulate moral convictions in favor of these movements.
In fact, the framing efforts of these dramaturgical actions constitute a significant
area to be explored, as the framing approach has been criticized for focusing
mainly on rational–critical aspects while the emotional or moral dimensions of
framing have been neglected and are seldom discussed (Benford, 1997; Goodwin
& Jasper, 2006; McAdam, 1996).
In assessing the construction of collective movement frames, Benford and
Snow (2000) have conceptualized three overlapping framing processes—
discursive, contested, and strategic. However, it seems that the strategic dimension
they suggested is rather cognitively confined given that it attempts to explain
mobilization through the alignment of meanings on a cognitive level. In order
to address this limitation, this study aims to help expand the theoretical discussion
of framing perspectives by supplementing the strategic dimension with an affective
dimension, which is hoped to better elaborate upon motivational framing and
better capture how frames are constructed via the mobilization of emotions.
To this end, this study seeks to examine how affective mobilization was achieved
via the emotional and moral value-laden framing processes in a resistance move-
ment in Tsoi Yuen Village, a rural community in Hong Kong.

The Tsoi Yuen Resistance Movement

The Tsoi Yuen resistance movement in Hong Kong lasted from December 2008
to February 2011. A wide array of villagers, artists, members of the post-80s
generation, and other individuals rallied in opposition the demolition of Tsoi
Yuen village, a rural village in the northern part in Hong Kong. This demolition
was planned in order to make way for the construction of the Guangzhou-
Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail link (the XRL), a national express railway
that connects Hong Kong to other major cities in China. The movement was
considered significant, as it triggered a remarkable collective action in which
over ten thousand people surrounded the building housing Hong Kong’s
Legislative Council in order to express their opposition to the funding of the
railway construction. It is also of theoretical interest because its oppositional
frames challenged Hong Kong’s well-established development discourse.
The Tsoi Yuen resistance movement is a very interesting case, as, in its early
phases, it was a typical anti-eviction movement that focused on the injustice of
the situation and the residents’ grievances over the forced evictions. However,
even after the Hong Kong government rejected all the alternative proposals and
Ma 7

insisted on the demolishment of the village, the movement did not end but
transformed into a lifestyle movement that embraced postmaterialistic pursuits
by highlighting values such as community networks, land, and life. The activists
then fought to establish an ecological village, hoping that the promotion of these
kinds of lifestyle choices could sustain resistances seeking to oppose the prevail-
ing discourse of development in the long term.
This movement also provides a meaningful and significant context for exam-
ining the negotiated space of civil autonomy in postcolonial Hong Kong, where
social activists have been successfully constructing counterframes to challenge
the dominant discourse of capitalistic development that has been so well estab-
lished since the colonial era. In fact, it was beyond everyone’s expectations that a
small-scale movement formed initially by the residents of about 150 households
in the village could be amplified into a vigorous anti-XRL campaign and sus-
tainable lifestyle movement. Under the dominant rhetoric concerning develop-
ment in Hong Kong, infrastructure proposed by the government is invariably
claimed to be capable of bringing enormous economic benefits. It rarely elicits
large-scale resistance, and protests usually only arise among a few groups dir-
ectly affected by the development.
This movement constitutes a rich and illustrative case for exploring the
dynamics of framing processes in social movements. The struggle lasted for
more than 2 years, during which extensive frame construction, alignment, and
transformation processes unfolded throughout its different phases. In this study,
I first analyze and identify the major phases of the resistance and the frame
transformations taking place at each stage. I argue that there is a shift in framing
from a resentful ‘‘injustice’’ frame to a later constructed ‘‘choice’’ frame marked
by gratefulness. Second, I discuss and explore the dramaturgical constitution of
framing in the later phase of the movement and argue that during this phase the
movement was transformed into a lifestyle movement. In performing this ana-
lysis, I aim to make sense of the sensual–emotional tactics of the movement and
to elaborate upon the affective dimension of the framing perspective. Through
these tactics, social and moral affects are framed and manifested in a way that
contributes to the consolidation and mobilization of the movement.

Literature Review
The Framing Perspective and Emotions in Social Movements
Framing, in the context of social movements, refers to the work of meaning
construction that engages social movement activists and their antagonists, elites,
the media, and those organizing countermovements (Snow & Benford, 1988).
In social movements, meanings are usually contestable and negotiable; thus,
they are open to debate and various interpretations. However, in the study of
social movements, emotion has been treated as a suspect enterprise for the
8 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

past few decades, as social scientists have attempted to portray humans as

rational and instrumental, associating emotions with irrationality (Goodwin &
Jasper, 2006).
In tracing the study of emotions in politics, we can find that the earliest
studies in social movements emphasized emotions and irrationality as part of
a pathologizing perspective (Le Bon, 1960). In the crowd-based theories that
dominated protest research before the 1960s, emotions were considered the
driving force behind virtually all political action that occurred outside normal
institutions. However, by the early 1970s, there was a shift from this pejorative
tone to a structural, rationalistic, and organizational approach in the study of
social movements. In replacing pathological explanations, scholars turned to
rational actor models and organizational theory in which activists were treated
as rational actors who were blocked from pursuing their interests through regu-
lar political channels (Goodwin & Jasper, 2006).
On the other hand, with the rise of the new social movement paradigm sug-
gested by the European scholars in the late 1970s, the domination of instrumen-
tal orientations in resource mobilization and political process theories began to
receive more acute criticism. As a departure from structural analyses, new social
movement theorists started to shift the focus towards culture, identity, and
intersubjective processes. For instance, Melucci (1995) recognized the import-
ance of participants’ ‘‘emotional investment’’ in the new collective identities of
the time, marking this as a crucial factor in the mobilization process. The fram-
ing approach gained in popularity and frames came to be commonly used in
social movement literature to capture a number of cultural processes. This
approach also attempted to describe the rhetorical processes by which a move-
ment recruits members with the suggestion that, during the recruitment process,
organizers and potential participants of protest groups must align their frames
so as to achieve a consensus on a social problem and its solution (Snow,
Rochford, Worden, & Benford, 1986).
Framing perspectives perceive mobilization as depending not only on the
availability and deployment of tangible resources or a cost-benefit calcula-
tion but also on the ways that meanings are ‘‘aligned’’ and ‘‘activated’’ so
that they ‘‘resonate’’ with targets of mobilization (Snow & Benford, 1988).
However, such a mobilization of meanings would not be sufficient to provoke
action if it consisted merely in fostering cognitive agreements—emotions must
be taken into account as well. Indeed, as Benford (1997) pointed out in his
retrospective:

Those operating within the framing/constructionist perspective have not fared

much better than their structuralist predecessors in elaborating the role of emotions
in collective action. Instead, we continue to write as though our movement actors
(when we actually acknowledge humans in our texts) are Spock-like beings, devoid
of passion and other human emotions. (p. 419)
Ma 9

It is thus inadequate to study frames without considering people’s feelings

regarding specific beliefs and understandings. The examination of emotions in
framing studies is of huge significance, as collective emotions in a social move-
ment can be transmuted into a notable emotional energy. McAdam (1996) made
a convincing case for giving more attention to the framing function of movement
tactics when he used the term ‘‘strategic dramaturgy’’ to denote the kinds of
framing tactics that are mindful of the messages and symbols encoded in move-
ment’s actions and demands (p. 348).

Dramaturgical Actions and the Affective Framing Process

Apart from textual and written communications, collective action frames can
also be composed of actors’ performances and actions. McAdam (1996) coined
the concept of strategic dramaturgy to denote the dramatic actions and perform-
ances that appeal to the public’s emotional and moral reactions. By elaborating
the affective dimension of framing, analysts are able to move away from the
cognitive bias of framing (Benford, 1997; Goodwin & Jasper, 2006).
Nielsen (2008) suggested that an aesthetic discourse is capable of activating
the intellectual as well as the emotional and sensory forms of experience and
thus can represent a more nuanced potential for Bildung (Schiller, 1795/1982)
than a purely cognitive discourse can. Bildung is a key concept in German phil-
osophy that conceptualizes human development as involving the integration of
individuals’ sensory, emotional, and intellectual potentials, making them cap-
able of self-reflection in terms of their embeddedness in and obligation towards
their social and cultural contexts.
Therefore, the aesthetic elements and inspirations communicated in a publicly
displayed dramaturgical performance constitute an expression filled not only
with humanistic values but also with moral shocks (Jasper, 1997). These unex-
pected events or productions raise individuals’ sense of outrage, provoking
bystanders’ sympathy and gathering support for the movement. More import-
antly, these performances inject sentimental, moral, or even spiritual affects into
the movement’s frames. As such, the study of these dramaturgical actions can
help us understand how affective mobilizations may be enhanced in the framing
process.

Affective Framing, Moral Emotions,

and the Consolidation of Movements
Gamson (1995) stated that all successful framing involves an injustice compo-
nent, as people are driven to activism primarily by feelings of anger and frus-
tration as a result of perceived injustice. The accusations that make up the
injustice frame are often linked with class-based economic concerns and
uneven distribution of material resources. However, as Jasper (1997) argued,
10 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

the standard definition of injustice that is confined to unfair distribution of

material and monetary values should be expanded to include other postmateri-
alist or moral principles such as religious norms, professional norms, commu-
nicative norms, and community norms. In fact, movements today often express
demands that are not monetary or materialistic. In contemporary movement
paradigms, so-called lifestyle movements are becoming prominent in developed
countries, which are defined as movements ‘‘that consciously and actively pro-
mote a lifestyle or way of life . . . as their primary means to foster social change’’
(Haenfler, Johnson, & Jones, 2012, p.2). With these postmaterialistic pursuits,
earlier movement studies that focus on negative emotions, such as anger and
grievances, seem to be inadequate in understanding contemporary movements.
It would be significant to further explore how positive emotions, such as pleas-
ure, joy, awe, reverence, and gratitude, can be integrated into the framing pro-
cess of social movements.
In this study, the Tsoi Yuen resistance movement transformed from an anti-
eviction movement into a lifestyle movement that promotes postmaterialistic
values such as community networks, land, and life. In understanding how
these pursuits such as lifestyle choices, humanistic community, pleasures in pro-
tests, and so on are manifested in affective framing, this study can help analysts
grapple more effectively with situations where people are willing to pay more or
even devote themselves entirely to social actions that are guided by moral
emotions.
Indeed, by discussing the emotional and moral dimensions of frames mani-
fested and expressed by the dramaturgical actions of social movements, we may
begin to expand our understanding of the norms constituting a movement’s
frames beyond mere materialistic demands. It is also meaningful to explore
the solidarity of movement actors through a more multi-layered approach
that takes a variety of emotions into account—not only negative affects like
anger and grievances but also more positive and even sacred emotions like grati-
tude, awe, and reverence.
To understand the role of dramaturgical actions in the framing process, I will
identify and examine mobilization under an overarching research question: How
do dramaturgical actions enhance the role that affective framing plays in the
achievement of affective mobilization and consolidation in social movements?

Method
In examining the case study of the Tsoi Yuen resistance movement, I employed
multiple methods of gathering information, including textual analysis, partici-
patory observation, and interviews. First, I conducted archival research by look-
ing into publications, pamphlets, and leaflets distributed during the protests or
at demonstration sites. Second, I conducted a textual analysis and interpretation
of the relevant articles in mainstream media as well as articles posted on the
Ma 11

Hong Kong In-Media website (www.inmediahk.net). The Hong Kong In-Media

website is one of the most influential citizen-driven media outlets in Hong Kong,
and it was also the first media outlet to help expose the grievances of the villagers
in Tsoi Yuen village. Using the key words ‘‘Tsoi Yuen Tsuen’’ and ‘‘express
railway’’ in my search, I have identified and looked into 156 articles in total.
I interpret more intensively the texts produced and distributed by the major
movement framers, including the Tsoi Yuen residents and the Tsoi Yuen
Concern Group.
Furthermore, I joined most of the protests in different phases of the Tsoi
Yuen resistance movement, conducting participatory observation from June
2009 to March 2011. Apart from attending various protests, I also actively
took part in the forums, documentary shows, and other activities hosted by
the activists, identifying and gaining access to the core activists and supporters
in these events. My role was usually that of a complete observer and, on some
occasions in which I had casual conversations and semistructured interviews
with the activists and participants, that of an observer-as-participant. Apart
from these communications, I have also conducted 15 in-depth interviews with
the core movement activists, supporters, news reporters, and residents of Tsoi
Yuen.
In this study, I will primarily discuss the data collected in two major move-
ment events: the ‘‘prostrating walks’’ that took place from December 2009 to
January 2010 (including their advocating text—the ‘‘Declaration’’ of the walks)
and the establishment of the ‘‘Tsoi Yuen Tsuen Livelihood Place’’ (including the
video clip announcing its opening in March 2010).

Findings
Frame Transformations: From the Resentful ‘‘Injustice’’ Frame
to the Grateful ‘‘Choice’’ Frame
The Tsoi Yuen resistance movement, a 2-year struggle, began in 2008 when the
Tsoi Yuen residents were first told they would have to move to make way for the
XRL. Starting out as a typical anti-eviction movement involving only around
500 residents, the movement eventually escalated into a large-scale anti-XRL
movement and finally evolved into a lifestyle movement that struggled to pro-
mote an agricultural lifestyle while challenging the capitalistic mode of
development.
As deduced as a result of my participation in the movement and from the data
collected, this change reflects a transformation of the movement’s framing. In
the beginning, the movement constructed an injustice frame, rooted in negative
feelings such as resentment and grievances, a frame that expressed the resident’s
demands for the demolition or removal of their village to be called off. However,
after the government approved the budget for building the XRL and insisted on
12 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

removing the village in January 2010, the villagers had to compromise and
accept the government’s compensation. From one perspective, the movement
may be regarded as a failure given that its key demand was rejected. However, in
responding to this failure, the movement’s goal evolved and activists shifted to
highlight a choice frame. In this phase, it became clear that the villagers would
have to move, and the activists and villagers continued the struggle by demand-
ing the establishment of a new village conceived as Hong Kong’s first ecological
village. The movement thus sustained and evolved from the original anti-
eviction movement into a lifestyle movement, aiming to arouse the public in
striking for alternative life choices other than capitalist consumerist lifestyles.
Hence, the villagers requested that the government aid them in reestablishing the
village so that they could continue farming. More importantly, the activists also
established the Tsoi Yuen Tsuen Livelihood Place, which promoted the values of
farming and ecological living, which serves to showcase how a production-
oriented lifestyle can work.
In this shift, the goal of the movement was no longer merely about opposing
the land eviction but became geared towards more postmaterialistic pursuits. It
aimed to arouse the public’s reflection on a broadened kind of social development
and lifestyle, breaking away from the dominant ideologies of capitalistic develop-
ment and consumerism. In this choice frame, it is observed that, instead of anger
and grievances, positive and sacred emotions like gratitude, awe, love, and hope
towards nature and a humanistic community are cultivated. With the frame of
‘‘choice,’’ the movement came to emphasize more the pursuit of an expanded
imagination of lifestyle choices which embrace sustainability and humanity.
I contend that dramaturgical actions in the form of prostrating walks and the
establishment of the Tsoi Yuen Livelihood Place constitute two essential com-
ponents in the construction of the choice frame. Cognitively, the frame helped to
inspire the public to question whether development should override community
lives, neighborhood networks, and lifestyle choices. Affectively, it served as a
strong rhetorical tool in activating and arousing affective and moral sensibilities
in the movement’s participants as well as in members of the general public,
moving and inspiring them to reflect more deeply on the direction of future
development in Hong Kong. The choice frame intended to promote a widened
scope of social development that takes cultural heritage, human relationships,
and environmental sustainability into account.

The Prostrating Walks: Framing the Moral Affects

From December 2009 to January 2010, during the later phase in the movement,
a group of activists and supporters, imitating the ritual prayers performed by
Tibetan pilgrims, performed a series of prostrating walks around the Legislative
Council building so as demonstrate their opposition to the XRL railway con-
struction and their desire to save the Tsoi Yuen village.
Ma 13

Among Tibetans, prostration is a sacred and holy ritual that helps the walkers
to purify negativities and generate merit. Adapted from these rituals, the pen-
ance walkers of the movement held rice in their hands, marched barefoot, and
kneeled their heads to the ground every 26 steps, symbolizing their opposition
towards the 26-mile railway. In conveying the meanings behind the prostrating
walks to the general public, the activists published and circulated a
‘‘Declaration’’ on a pamphlet and the Internet (Tsoi Yuen Concern Group,
2009). In this Declaration, the protestors explained the symbolic meaning
behind the rice being held in the penance walkers’ hands: The grains represented
the power of the soil to provide people with food, standing in contrast to the
short-sighted urban development that protesters described as destroying the
future of the city. The actions of walking and kneeling demonstrated their
humble demands for maintaining the Tsoi Yuen agricultural community,
demands that were not made merely in defense of their homeland but also
illustrated their respect for the soil and how much they treasured this intimate
community.

Rice and seeds are tightly held in our hands, carrying the fruits of the future. We
are aiming to connect with diverse neighborhoods, and that’s why we come to all
five districts. Walking with power in silence, we hope to connect the people step by
step. Let’s walk together until we meet outside the Legislative Council on January
8th. Let’s join together in defending the fruits planted with hard work, and let’s
grasp the chance to shape the future.

We are focused, silent and patient, we walk and bow, crossing the old buildings in
the old districts, penetrating the public housing estates and heading towards the
rural fields, so as to feel the power of diversity across those areas. Walking with a
slow pace, a heavy step and a quiet body, we are paving the path of the ideal.

A change of mind is triggered by a step; let’s irrigate our watertight future.

Together with the dramaturgical prostrating walks, the text in this Declaration
powerfully communicated the message to the public that a reconnection between
land and humanity is essential to Hong Kong society.
When these peaceful, slow, and humble prostrating walks took place in Hong
Kong, they became very expressive and dramaturgical performances that pushed
the movement’s claims effectively into the public-mediated arena. The power of
these walks can be demonstrated in the media coverage in the mainstream Hong
Kong newspapers. Before these walks, the Tsoi Yuen resistance movement did
not capture the media and the public’s attention; however, these prostrating
walks received extensive media coverage and the scale of the movement escalated
as more and more participants joined the series of prostrating marches across a
variety of areas in Hong Kong. In the mainstream media, the number of articles
14 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

about Tsoi Yuen Tsuen peaked in January 2010 across the major Hong Kong
newspapers. As a result of these widespread reports of the prostrating walks,
over 10,000 demonstrators were mobilized to sit outside the Legislative Council
building. The vigorous demonstrations and the movement’s innovative and
humble tactics became important news stories for the mass media.
More importantly, the walks generated sympathy and support from the
media and general public, successfully combatting the counterframing strategy
of the government that portrayed the Tsoi Yuen residents as greedy and selfish
rioters who protested for monetary compensation. The media often took a sym-
pathetic view of the protesters:

The prostrating walk performed by the post-80s generation in December has

moved many Hongkongers, there were once more than 100 participants joining
the prostrating march yesterday, demonstrating their love to the land and their
strong will in defending the village . . . (‘‘Joining a Prostrating Walk,’’ 2010)

The penance walkers, the young generation in Hong Kong, are kind-hearted and
patient strikers. Their tears have nurtured the land, they are proposing solutions to
our society: a change in value, conception and attitude . . . They carried out their
actions to demonstrate how to respect our environment, land, lives and people.
(‘‘Visual Politics in 2010,’’2010)

Apart from garnering attention from the media and the general public, the
prostrating walks also greatly reinforced emotional connections among the sup-
porters of the movement because these walks made manifest the abstract
human–nature connection. As attested in the following quotes, these actions
were successful in fostering strong and deep emotional connections among the
protestors:

During the walks, I was so touched as I was like a quarantined species,

receiving infinite care and endless greetings from my friends. I did not need to
handle anything but just to walk. It was not hard for us, the penance walkers; it
was the effort of the people taking care of us. I was so grateful for all of their
preparations.

Throughout the 3-day prostrating walk, I kept thinking whether it is a must for us
to live at such a rapid pace. We can live well without the express rail link. But we
cannot survive without love and care. Human connection is so important and thus
it motivates us to strike for a better future. (K. Or, July 2011, personal
communication)

Through the physical and tangible experiences brought about by these walks, the
participants could indeed reflect on abstract postmaterialistic pursuits, human
Ma 15

relationships, and alternative modes of urban development. These reflections are

illustrated in the words of another walker:

We are all suffering from rapid urban development: privatization of public spaces,
urban redevelopment projects, alienated human relationships. We hope that we can
be more united when we realize that we are suffering from the same problem. I hope
that everyone can stop and think. Do we really need an express rail link? We have
to make a very important judgment which involves a 66.9 billion construction. Do
we want blind development, or more intimate local communities and networks?
I treasure these communal and humanistic values so much. I do not want the
destiny of our city to lie solely in the hands of a few government officials or [func-
tional constituency] legislators! (J. Lau, July 2012, personal communication)

In performing for the public, a movement’s actors not only contribute to the
expression of the movement’s political and moral ideals but also act to manifest
the movement’s moral aspirations, making the movement’s pursuits no longer
unreachable abstractions or vague ideas.
The prostrating walks were a good example of moral mediation. They mani-
fested and visualized the proclamation ‘‘this is our land.’’ The protesters’ dra-
matic gestures of holding and protecting the rice in their hands and the repeated
process of taking 26 steps and one bow provided a strong image through which
the movement’s aims were manifested. The activists’ desires and aspirations for
embracing and restoring a humanistic lifestyle connected with the land were
unmistakably and powerfully expressed, as reflected in the following partici-
pant’s comments:

I chose to join the prostrating walk as this was mental training for me. I hope to
reflect on the relationship between man and land through this act. Many friends of
mine did not care about the XRL, but after I joined this walk, they started to pay
attention to this issue when they saw me on television. Of course I cannot influence
everyone but I can trigger some of my friends to show more concern about our
society. I hope that our society can become better and fairer. I believe I am doing
something meaningful. (T. Choi, May 2012, personal communication)

In the prostrating walks, penance walkers were projected as peaceful and humble
actors who were willing to suffer in these exhausting marches so as to make their
claims. These actions successfully framed and heightened the movement by intro-
ducing a sacred and moral dimension. These vivid and robust manifestations were
important in provoking positive and even sacred emotions towards the movement’s
actors. These positive or empathic feelings towards fellow members of a movement
are also very influential components of mobilization mechanisms.
With moral aspirations towards gratitude, humanity, and dignity being
vibrantly demonstrated in the prostrating walks, the Tsoi Yuen villagers and
16 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

their supporters generated very positive affect among the movement actors
themselves, as well as in the general public. The manifestations of feelings of
compassion and the moral aspirations towards a more sustainable and human-
istic lifestyle successfully encouraged more bystanders to become aware of the
movement’s central claims and to get involved.

Tsoi Yuen Tsuen Livelihood Place: Framing the Social Affects

Another dramaturgical action employed in support of the construction of the
choice frame was the establishment of the Tsoi Yuen Tsuen Livelihood Place,
which aimed to arouse the significance of a certain kind of alternative lifestyle by
showcasing the organic farming community in the city. By actually living agri-
cultural, rural, and permacultural lives, the participants sought to proclaim and
demonstrate the possibilities of an alternative and productive lifestyle beyond
the dominant capitalist and consumerist mode of urban life.
The Livelihood Place was established in March, 2010, 2 months after the
movement failed to stop the approval of budget for the XRL construction. It
was initially located near the entrance of the Tsoi Yuen village. Participants
cleared an abandoned pigsty in the village, opened up a farmland, and built a
shed in establishing the Livelihood Place. Organic farming was practiced on the
farmland whereas the shed provided a place for participants to eat, rest, gather,
and prepare farm work. The Livelihood place was later relocated and settled on
a 20,000 square feet farmland in a nearby village when the Lands Department
began to resume the land of Tsoi Yuen Village in November 2011.
The activists stated that the Livelihood Place provided an important physical
base for the construction of the collective identity of the movement based on the
needs and values shared among the participants. The identity of the ‘‘Half-Farmer’’
was developed and sustained via the actual farming practices in the Livelihood
Place (Lo, 2012). This formation of an actual agricultural community significantly
enhanced the affective bonding among the internal supporters of the movement.
In announcing and publicizing the opening of the Livelihood Place in March
2010, the activists of the Tsoi Yuen Concern Group produced a video that was
posted on the Hong Kong In-Media website and YouTube (Suededevil, 2010).
The video lasts 6 minutes and 41 seconds. As the video is a very illustrative text
in elaborating the goals of the Livelihood Place, I am going to interpret some
important threads in this video.
Up until the 1:16 mark, images of the prostrating walks are shown while
gloomy music plays in the background. A female narrator explains the back-
ground of the movement and how the Tsoi Yuen village was sacrificed in order
to make way for the XRL construction:

The anti-XRL movement has revealed the fact that the Hong Kong government
and its closely attached interested parties have already turned Hong Kong into a
Ma 17

‘‘privilege club’’ city which is seriously tilted and biased towards the few dominat-
ing interest groups. Is living by the routines designated and confined by the urban
transportation chain the only option for the majority of Hongkongers? Is living
from hand to mouth the only choice for us? If it goes on, is there any hope to pass
on to our next generation?

While the value of this ‘‘white elephant’’ is negated, it is time for us to reflect what
kind of life we are seeking. The anti-XRL campaign was sparked by Tsoi Yuen
village, yet the movement was not ended even though funding was approved by
those functional constituency members who prefer to please the authorities. On the
contrary, a more profound movement striking for a more autonomous life is ready
to kick off! (Video transcript)1

Images of the prostrating walks fade out at 1:27, and cheerful and uplifting
music fades in. The video then shows youngsters and Tsoi Yuen villagers hard
at work, clearing up the abandoned pigsty and clearing the farmland.
An interview with Ko Chuen-heung, the chairlady of the Tsoi Yuen Concern
Group, begins at 2:20. The interview shot shows a group working in a field
behind her. Despite being disappointed that Tsoi Yuen village is going to be
demolished, she expresses excitement at the sight of so many young supporters
practicing farming and enjoying precious moments on the farmland:

I’m really so shocked and surprised to see that the abandoned land can be turned
into such a beautiful field! Who has done all this wonderful work? It was done by
these amazing young people behind me! I haven’t seen so many people working on
the field for a long time. There were not that many people working together even in
my childhood! They are really superb! (Video transcript)

At 3:00, the video then goes on to show the happy faces of those who worked so
hard at clearing the farmland. The interview with Ko Chuen-heung then resumes
with her explaining to the audience that a capitalistic and consumerist lifestyle
should never be the sole choice available for city dwellers, and that Hong Kong
people can in fact seek more possibilities in lifestyle choices:

These youngsters gave [the Tsoi Yuen villagers] a sense of hope. It seems that there
is a new life coming and it is going to be a better life. In fact, many Hongkongers
are seeking a better way of life, and today we can see that these youngsters are
really trying to create these better ways of living. Through laboring, it would be a
true experience for them to feel the connection between man, earth and humanity.
They are actualizing a genuine environmental conservation as they have to eat what
they farmed and there is no McDonald’s feeding them. These activities are in fact a
philosophy and education for life. These experiences would be more real and useful
than the knowledge they gained from books, schools and the media.
18 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

I believe that their hard work and actualization of life in the Livelihood Place can
inspire other Hongkongers. (Video transcript)

After the interview with Ko Chuen-heung, a villager and an activist express their
happiness about setting up the Livelihood Place. Then, the female voiceover
fades in at 5:47, calling to the audience to join the grand opening of the
Livelihood place:

We are going to hold various exhibitions and workshops so as to connect with the
daily lives of different people and communities. By doing so, we aim to rediscover
community networks that are embedded with humanity and compassion towards
the land. Together with the villagers and Hong Kong people, we look forward to
rediscovering and reflecting on the relationship between ‘‘urban’’ and ‘‘rural’’ lives.
(Video transcript)

The Tsoi Yuen Livelihood Place as a manifestation of the choice frame served as
an important physical locale in building affective bonds among the members and
sustaining the movement. It did not just cognitively communicate the pursuit of
alternative lifestyles to the public, but it also acted as a live and dynamic net-
work that actualized the members’ ideal way of living. In their daily farming
activities, the participants developed a sense of belonging and a collective iden-
tity. This is illustrated in an interview of a participant of the Livelihood Place,
who considered the alternative and rural lifestyle upheld there to be a precious
experience:

I joined some other social movements before but they were only oppositions; how-
ever, I am satisfied with the ‘‘community building’’ here [the Livelihood Place]. It is
no longer merely an empty claim but we are actualizing an alternative lifestyle,
which is rather fulfilling. (J. Lau, personal communication, July 2012)

In fact, when the budget for the XRL project was approved in January 2010, it
seemed that the movement was about to disperse. However, the establishment of
the Tsoi Yuen Livelihood Place and the transformation of the movement’s frame
from one concerned with injustice to one concerned with choice brought the
movement onto new ground.
Sociologists have shown that the affective bonds and personal ties that forge
solidarity and motivate participation serve as important elements for recruit-
ment in social movement networks. Day-to-day interactions are important in
building emotional loyalty among groups pursuing their goals in repressive cir-
cumstances (Epstein, 1991; Lichterman, 1996; Lofland, 1996).
In the Tsoi Yuen resistance movement, the Livelihood Place served an essen-
tial role in consolidating strong networks in which the members shared a move-
ment identity as well as a mutual belief. The daily farming activities in the
Ma 19

Livelihood Place largely contributed to building and binding an affective net-

work involving young activists, the villagers, and other supporters.
Evidence that the bonding among the participants and supporters was strong
can also be found in the fact that many of them were willing to join the ‘‘Tsoi
Yuen Patrol Team’’ later in October 2010. Members of the patrol team guarded
and defended the old Tsoi Yuen village and struggled with the government and
officials on issues of land resumption at the end of 2010. Those in the patrol
team were involved in vigorously physical confrontations with the police and
government officials for over 3 months, attempting to prevent the village from
being demolished before the government promised an obstacle-free plan for the
relocation of the residents to a new village. Without strong determination and
affective bonding, I propose that these patrol teams would not have been so
committed and devoted to protecting the village and the villagers in this way.

Discussion and Conclusion

This study has investigated the dramaturgical tactics employed in the Tsoi Yuen
resistance movement, tactics that are considered to be prominent contributors to
the enrichment of the affective dimension of the framing process. Dramaturgical
actions in this movement aroused sensual–emotional responses and shifted the
focus of the movement towards an alternative discourse concerned with sustain-
able development. Through these affective framing efforts, the norms that con-
stituted the movement’s frames were expanded. Moreover, affective framing
helped to manifest moral aspirations and cultivate affective bonds in the con-
solidation of the movement.
The Tsoi Yuen resistance movement is an illustrative case in the exploration
of affective framing, as it evolved a frame transformation from a resentful
‘‘injustice’’ frame to a later grateful ‘‘choice’’ frame. Dramaturgical perform-
ances take a more significant role in expressing and articulating the movement’s
social and moral affects, in turning greatly enhancing the consolidation of the
movement internally and externally.
In the prostrating walk performed in the movement, the penance walkers not
only demonstrated vividly to the public their moral reflections in the relationship
between man and nature, but also they themselves experienced gratitude, care,
and love from their fellow members. Such feelings presumably greatly consoli-
dated the movement’s alliances. Rituals involving face-to-face social interaction
can generate emotional energy and solidarity by enforcing the physical copre-
sence of individuals and encouraging an awareness of one another. This can help
to sustain social movements by synchronizing participants’ actions and develop-
ing symbolic and moral representations of their claims (Collins, 2004). Urged on
by a mode of reflective judgment, the affective framing efforts brought about by
the prostrating walks can help to manifest and make visual certain moral aspir-
ations, helping the public to better understand the movement’s claims.
20 Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(1)

Moreover, because of these dramaturgical actions, the Tsoi Yuen resistance

movement was also perceived as a ‘‘protest of pleasure’’ by many mainstream
media outlets and local commentators. The prostrating walk, though it was
carried out in a heavy and gloomy manner, brought about a deep self-reflection
and a sense of satisfaction and pride in the participants. Also, the enjoyable
proceedings in the Livelihood Place created strong pleasurable feelings and
reactivated the affective bonds among the group. As such, an expanded discus-
sion on the affective dimension of framing that incorporates not only grievances
and anger but also pleasure and joy presents a significant area for further explor-
ation in the framing perspective.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.

Note
1. All English video transcripts are my own translations from the original Cantonese.

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Author Biography
Miranda L. Y. Ma is a lecturer of communication at Hong Kong Baptist
University. She teaches communication theory, advertising, and society and
mass communication. Her research interests include political communication,
social movements, and media activism.