COUNTERING LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPON SYSTEMS: A FRAME ANALYSIS OF THE CAMPAIGN TO STOP KILLER ROBOTS

Date

2024-3

Author

Samen, Ali Mert

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This thesis explores the collective action frames of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots (CSKR) that shapes the discourse and meaning around Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). It qualitatively analyses the evolution of CSKR's framing strategies across three consecutive periods: Formative, Active, and Adaptive. The study delves into CSKR's use of diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing tasks, demonstrating how activists navigated the challenges posed by their transnational venue CCW and responded to global events by modifying and substantially shifting their frames. The thesis is based on a qualitative content analysis of campaign material which was thematically coded as per a specific frame analytical model. The results identify and unpack the content of various framings including legality, human dignity, international stability and preemptive ban frames, as well as a set of framing components and vocabularies of motive. It reveals CSKR's shift from IHL-oriented legality frames to digital dehumanisation and intersectionality in response to various events and factors. The findings contribute to social movement and advocacy network studies, illustrating how transnational groups shape discourse, cope with structural constraints, and align with broader social trends in a bid to influence power structures.

Subject Keywords

Framing Perspective on Social Movements, Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, Transnational Advocacy Network, Artificial Intelligence

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/108874

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis