ABSTRACT
Framing theory implies that objective problems cannot trigger mass protest unless many individuals define them through a shared collective action frame. In the midst of the crisis government leaders, and especially the leaders of the Independence Party and their delegates, faced a severe credibility crisis. Signifying agents often focused on the Chairman of the governor's board of the Central Bank, Dav Oddsson, as a personification of corruption and lack of professionalism in politics and government. Silencing is another theme in the evolving discourse, emphasizing how the established illegitimate practices of the ruling authorities had contributed to the crisis. In late November, prognostic and motivational framing was becoming more radical, especially as it became clearer that government leaders had no intention of stepping down. The International Monetary Fund probably best bits out of the welfare system, privatizing power resources and the health system and thus fully realizing the objectives of neo-liberalism.
