ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the episode of contention according to the primary cultural elements, focusing on how they are played out across varying political contexts and in different arenas of interactions. It is fair to say that the theoretical discourse in the field of protest studies has undervalued the primacy that McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly place on cultural processes in Dynamics of Contention. The chapter assumes that there is a wide variety of primary frameworks in Palestinian society, as in any culture with deep historical traditions. It demonstrates the shift from Palestinians strategy of national liberation to Islamic jihad was not simply a reflection of a group's ideology, as some argue with respect to Islamic movements such as Hamas. It elaborates the culture-agency nexus, starting with seminal work on framing theory and going back to the original frame-analysis canon. Finally, the chapter reveals that the keying process itself is a form of contentious politics.
