ABSTRACT
Zambia and Ghana. In doing so, it straddles the divide between the political process theorists who argue that mobilisation results from resources, political opportunities, and organisational structures (see Tarrow 1989; McAdam, McCarthy, and Zald 1996), and the constructionists who maintain that collective identity and framing lead to mobilisation (see Goodwin and Jasper 2004; Snow et al. 1986). This work argues that pastors who have successfully mobilised their religious followers to address the disease have capitalised on existing church organisational structures, used frames that resonate with their religious adherents, and embraced new political opportunities related to HIV and AIDS. On the other hand, while the article demonstrates pastors’ agency, it also illustrates that the broad sociocultural context in which these leaders operate means that this agency is not absolute.
