Paper short abstract:

While some self-determination movements in Sub-Saharan Africa rebel to obtain secession, others pursue their objective non-violently despite similar circumstances. This paper aims at explaining this variation in behaviour by analysing communication processes of movements with the help of framing.

Paper long abstract:

Sub-Saharan Africa has recently experienced a rise of self-determination movements. This does not seem surprising as borders are arbitrary and internally contested due to colonial rule. Resulting ethnic diversity can easily be instrumentalised to mobilise combatants. Furthermore, there are opportunities for violent struggle due to weak state capacity and the availability of small arms. Hence, one could deduce that the continent is especially affected by armed conflict over secession. However, violent secessionist conflicts in Sub-Sahara Africa were - and still are - scarce. Instead, in many instances social movements seek self-determination through non-violent strategies.

This paper aims to elucidate why some African self-determination movements choose non-violent collective action, while others claim secession through violent rebellion despite similar circumstances. Prevailing theories on violent conflict cannot explain this variation in collective behaviour. Thus, the paper will integrate the framing approach into conflict studies. Framing focuses on communication processes within social movements. It reveals how movements interpret and construct their environment, how they diffuse their message and calls to action, how this translates into specific strategies of mobilisation, and finally - violent or non-violent - action. The framing approach will be applied to a most-similar case study design, which compares self-determination movements in the cases of Senegal and Zambia that adopted violent and non-violent strategies, respectively.

Not only does this approach help to identify micro-mechanisms explaining the escalation of violence, but it also yields insights into communication processes and internal dynamics of protest movements as well as their strategic interaction with their environment.