Keying strategies, targets, and issues in protest signs from the occupy movement

Using text from handmade protest signs, I use qualitative content analysis to examine the collective action frames, issues, and targets found in the text of the signs, and delineate strategic keying as a framing process. I identify three types of strategic keying: borrowed credibility, data appropriation, and biographical statements of personal injustice. The major contribution of this work is that it provides a model for understanding the discursive practices of movements which do not present a clear platform of grievances, but rather a plurality of grievances that are not random, and show some consistency when a multitude of voices and perspectives are taken into account that bridge personal action frames and collective action frames. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.