Narratives of Defeat: Explaining the Effects of Loss in Social Movements.

Loss in social movement campaigns is commonplace; as in any political contestation, some parties win and some lose. For social movements, the costs of defeat can be enormous, yet such defeats rarely result in the demise of the movement itself. Instead, social movement activists who lose persist in their efforts and engage in repeated attempts to achieve their goals—often, to achieve the same goals. How do losers persevere? One answer to this question may be found in the narratives of defeat articulated by a social movement after loss. This article develops the concept of a narrative of defeat and presents a typology of defeat narratives to hypothesize about how narratives of defeat might effect remobilization efforts, using examples from labor movements in Great Britain and the United States. The article concludes with reflections on the strategic utility of narratives of defeat and suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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