Based on a true story: the use of conversion stories in social movements

ABSTRACT

Movements attempt to change beliefs and behavior. Yet we know little about what happens following one of the most dramatic forms of change: movement from one side of a contentious issue to the opposition. I examine four cases of movement conversion, focusing on how actors present conversion stories. I find converts, journalists, and sympathetic activists present converts as credible experts on the opposition and use their stories to graphically demonize the opposition. It’s not surprising that converts and like-minded activists accept and publicize converts’ stories for their gain. It is notable that the media frequently presents conversion stories in an uncritical manner, emphasizing the most sensational elements of converts’ tales without questioning the truth of their claims. As a result, converts’ former insider status is primarily presented as an unproblematic source of credibility across mediums. This suggests converts can be valuable assets to social movement organizations, capturing media attention and demonizing the opposition in a persuasive and compelling manner.

KEYWORDS:

• Social movement
• convert
• narrative
• story
• media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The sociology of religion provides extensive literature on how to think about and label individuals who leave religions and religious organizations. Common labels include exiter, switcher, convert, disaffiliate, apostate, and defector (e.g., Cragun & Hammer, 2011; Payne, 2013). If we replace the term religion with movement or SMO, any of these labels could apply to the individuals studied here. Terms like apostate and defector describe these individuals just as well as the term convert. Yet individuals typically do not use the term apostate to describe themselves because they ‘do not usually see themselves or their decision to leave as negative ’ (Cragun & Hammer, 2011, p. 154). I chose to use the term convert because it is the label most often used by the individuals themselves, by SMOs, and by the media.

2. lasting for more than five years and engaging in at least weekly activity during the time of involvement.

3. Anonymous is made up of hacker-activists who claim to target and protest establishment hypocrisy. In 2008, Anonymous began protesting the Church of Scientology (Williams & Jarvis, 2018).

4. This excludes many that might otherwise be considered converts. For example, someone who left an oppressive religious organization and wrote a memoir about it, but did not participate in organizational activity to increase awareness about the harmful activities of this previous religious affiliation, would not fit this definition.

5. Of the 635 news articles, I analyzed 134 articles on Johnson, 65 on Hill, 246 on Lyman, 192 on O’Barry. The memoirs were Abby Johnson’s UnPlanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey Across the Life Line (written with Cindy Lambert), Jenna Miscavige Hill’s Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape (written with Lisa Pulitzer), Ric O’Barry’s Behind the Dolphin Smile: One Man’s Campaign to Protect the World’s Dolphins (written with Keith Coulbourn), and Howard Lyman’s Mad Cowboy: The Plain Truth from a Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat (written with Glen Merzer). The organizational blog and website articles broke down as follows: 334 on O’Barry from the website for the Dolphin Project, 234 on Lyman from the websites for EarthSave, Voices for a Viable Future, and the Mad Cowboy, 540 on Jenna Miscavige Hill from the Ex-Scientology Kids website, and 163 on Johnson from her blog and the And Then There Were None website.

6. The exception is in some of the coverage of Johnson. This is discussed in a subsequent section.

7. 50.2% identified as independent, 28.1% identified as Democratic, and 14.6% identified as ‘other’ (Willnat et al., 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexa Trumpy

Alexa Trumpy is an Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, United States of America. Her research interests include framing and the use of narratives in social movements, as well as gender and leadership.