A Comparative Analysis: Coalitions of the LGBTQ+ and Abortion Rights Movement’s in Argentina

Abstract

My thesis looks at the factors which cause a social movement to achieve policy outcomes faster than others. My research shows how the internal dynamics of social movement coalitions influence the achievement of a movement’s policy outcomes. I look at how the growth phase of a social movement allows us to examine the internal dynamics which contribute to a movements fast achievement of a policy goal. To center my argument I focus on the internal dynamics of ideologically convergent coalitions (ICC) and ideologically fragmented coalitions (IFC). I claim that the internal dynamics of a social movement are most visible during a coalitions growth phase — the first five-years after a network of social movement organizations is established — which shows us if a movement has ICC or IFC. If a movement has ICC it is more likely to achieve a policy goal; whereas, a movement with IFC is less-likely to achieve a policy goal because it is in a frozen state in need of reunification. To explain my argument I use of a case comparison of the LGBTQ+ and Abortion Rights movement’s in Argentina from 2005 to 2020. My research shows that the LGBTQ+ movement is an ICC and the Abortion Rights movement is an IFC. My research finds that the internal dynamics of the LGBTQ+ and Abortion Rights coalitions defined each movement’s ability to achieve a policy goal. The LGBTQ+ movement is used an example of an ICC with focus on the movement’s direct legalization of same-sex-marriage and ability to achieve a policy goal. In comparison to the Abortion Rights movement, that is an example of an IFC, with focus on the movement’s continued attempts to legalize/decriminalize abortion pushing it into a frozen state in need of reunification. I find that the Abortion Rights movement’s continued attempts to legalize/decriminalize abortion — over the last 15 years — is an example of an IFC that was able to progress out of a frozen state and achieve reunification.