Lasting Struggle: Ideology, Frame Transformation, and Collective Action of the Falun Gong Movement

Dr Chan, Cheris Shun Ching   (Principal Investigator (PI))

48

2015-11-01

672076

Lasting Struggle: Ideology, Frame Transformation, and Collective Action of the Falun Gong Movement

collective action, Falun Gong, frame transformation, ideology, social movement and culture

Sociology

Humanities & Social Sciences (H)

17606515

General Research Fund (GRF)

2015

Completed

1) To trace the change in the FLG’s collective actions from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s, and to identify the pattern(s) of change, especially from 1999 onwards. 2) To examine FLG’s collective action frames and framing processes in different periods, and to analyze how these frames and framing processes are constituted by the ideological content of the FLG. 3) To investigate the role of the charismatic leader in orchestrating collective actions, and to understand the perceptions and the meaning-making of ordinary followers in carrying out these actions. 4) To compare FLG’s collective actions in temporal and geographical dimensions so as to analyze how they are conditioned by the Chinese state’s actions and policies, and by their immediate social and political contexts. 5) To offer sociological analyses of the evolution of a movement, with an emphasis on explaining why the FLG as a movement and its individual followers have engaged in activities that have made them lose public support and sympathy over time. 6) To theorize the processes and the mechanisms of collective action frame transformation in relation to ideology, the charismatic leader, and socio-political forces.