Scholars tend to treat social movements as unitary phenomena. Even though the diversity of the activists, groups and networks involved is acknowledged in theory, they are neglected in practice. However, differences within movements are meaningful for activists and the milieus they are part of. They are constantly reaffirmed in action. Drawing on the research for my PhD thesis about different protest rationalities within the Global Justice Movement, the proposed paper reconstructs the performance of boundaries between different strands of the movement. The use of words, images and tactics reveals a fine-grained structure of social movement milieus, which emphasize or de-emphasize differences from (1) other parts of the Global Justice Movement and (2) reference groups such as political decision-makers, police, and journalists.
The paper focuses on the case of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, in 2007. The case was chosen, because the international summit triggered resistance across the German left ranging from anarchist groups to Christian aid organizations. This scenario allows mapping different reactions to the triggering event and the distance between different social movement milieus. In order to identify the manufacturing of boundaries, the paper analyzes mobilization posters and written documents, interviews with activists and protest performances.
