Organizational structure and framing process in the Chilean University student movement

The 2011-2015 Chilean university student movement for free, public and quality education has brought education to the forefront of Chilean politics. In 2015 students continue to mobilize through student federations at each university, even as the government beings to implement free higher education. Contemporary social movement theory recognizes the importance of both organizations and framing processes for movement emergence and the attainment of movement goals. However few scholars address the relationship between organizational structure and framing. In this paper I analyze the organizational structure of the Chilean university student movement to propose a connection between the organizational structure and the framing process, which has implications both for social movement theory and for the analyses of the student movement. In the case of the Chilean movement, the federation organizational structure ensures that frames resonate with the student bases and that the national student federations may coordinate frames to respond to government and gain public support.