Key drivers of the (non–)emergence of anti same-sex mariage movements - A comparative analysis of Belgium, France and Switzerland, 2001-2021

Some social movements gather hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, others barely manage to make themselves heard. In this respect, the case of movements opposed to same-sex marriage is quite enlightening. Thus, the differences in mobilization are significant between Belgium, which was marked by a flat calm in 2003, Switzerland, which will see the organization of a referendum following the collection of 50,000 signatures in 2021, and France, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in 2013. Conceptually situating this phenomenon in a broader context of an anti-gender movement, itself rooted in a religious, radical right-wing and conservative framework, this dissertation aims to shed light on the key drivers of the emergence of a social movement by drawing on four explanatory theories: relative deprivation, resource mobilization, political opportunity structures and framing processes. Using a mixed-methods approach, drawing on survey, interview, press and official document data, the aim is to show that these theories are complementary rather than in competition.