Living Wage Campaigns From a "Social Movement" Perspective: The Miami Case

This article uses the Miami living wage campaign to examine the potential and limitations of living wage campaigns to build enduring social movements which unite organized labor with community partners. Using the tripartite framework derived from the social movement litera ture of "political opportunities," "mobilizing structures," and "framing processes," the article analyzes this particular campaign to determine if a genuine social movement emerged. Hecksher and Palmer's thesis that organized labor as presently constituted is incapable of forming egalitar ian multilateral alliances with non-labor partners is tested, and sugges tions for "best practice" are developed.