Abstract: How do cultural contexts affect the formation and development of mobilizing frames in collective actions? Will a successful mobilizing frame have an impact on the cultural contexts? This paper tries to answer these questions. To understand the specific mechanisms of cultural contextual influences on the designation and adjustment of mobilizing frames, the “AntiXRL” movement in Hong Kong was selected in the paper as it had gone through significant frame changes. In the two stages of the movement, two mobilizing frames were used, each with different “resource” elements from its respective cultural contexts, which led to different mobilizing outcomes. The findings indicated that the frame changes originated from the social movement leaders’ strategic selection, reflecting the subtle relationships between the mobilizing frames and the macrocultural contexts in which the movement was embedded. More specifically, the mobilizing frame during the first stage utilized the marginal values of the cultural context but the outcome was not good. During the second stage, the leaders made strategic adjustments of the mobilizing frame, moving it closer to the mainstream values in the cultural context, which led to a breakthrough. When the mobilization became successful, the social movement leaders brought the marginal values back into the mobilizing frame. With the movement expanding, so did the marginal values and they even remained influential after the movement was over and restored the original cultural context. In addition, the competition between the mobilizing frame and other “countermovement” frames manifested the cultural contextual impact on the framing of the social movement.

Key words: social movements ,  collective action frame , framing , frame changes , cultural context , discourse