Issue status and social movement organization maintenance: Two case studies in rhetorical diversification

Communication studies of social movements have primarily focused on the highly visible rhetorical acts which characterize the movement\u27s formation and development. This study explores the rhetoric which characterizes social movements in their maintenance stage. The author posits that a relationship exists between the status of a social movement organization\u27s primary issue and the health of the organization. Moreover, social movement organizations use rhetorical strategies to adjust to changes in their issue\u27s status. The study explored two questions: (1) what rhetorical strategies did social movement organizations use to adapt changes in their issues\u27 status over time? and (2) How did rhetorical strategies function to maintain social movement organizations? The study examined the rhetoric of SANE/Freeze, an anti-nuclear weapons organization, and Bread for the World, an anti-hunger group. The study proceeded in two steps. First, the author tracked the status of the nuclear weapons and hunger issues between 1981 and 1992. The number of articles in three national print media outlets were counted, and the status of the issues was assessed using the Issue Development Graph. The author labelled major evolutions in the issues\u27 development eras. Second, a typology of the major issue management strategies--definition, legitimation, polarization, and identification--was used to analyze the rhetoric in the organizations\u27 newsletters. In addition to tracking the eras the nuclear weapons and hunger issues moved through between 1981 and 1992, the study confirmed the relationship between issue status and social movement organization membership. As the organizations\u27 primary issues rose in status, membership increased: as they fell, so did membership. In order to maintain themselves, organizations used rhetorical diversification. Rhetorical diversification is when an organization expands the number of issues it addresses. Rhetorical diversification involves the processes of re-definition and re-legitimation. Organizations generally made links between their primary issues and issues with current status. As the organizations addressed new issues, there was a tendency for the organization\u27s identity to change