Navigating Conflict: Understanding the Frames and Scripts that Actors Draw on During Change and Adaptation

I spent more than 10 years studying what happened within the Danish school system after a major industrial conflict over working time. Observing how hard school leaders, shop stewards, and teachers worked to produce good teaching despite conflict and contestation, I became interested in exploring how such actors navigate conflict and radical change over time. Through numerous interviews within the school system, I realized the importance of differentiating between two cultural constructs: frames and scripts.

Frames are well-known in the realm of the employment relationship. These are packages of values and assumptions that define the interests of various parties, such as labor and management, and how these interests interplay, leading to either cooperation or conflict. The concept of frames, as outlined by Benford and Snow (2000), and Budd et al. (2022), highlights how established values are collectively reframed during times of change and conflict. Essentially, frames are cognitive tools that actors use to understand and navigate their world and interests. Such frames can fuse and contest each other simultaneously.

However, to understand how people actually act when faced with conflict and radical change, we need to move beyond merely focusing on frames and cognition. In such cases, I argue, actors also draw on scripts. This concept transcends mere cognition. Rooted in cultural sociological studies, scripts emphasize the collective enactment of values and beliefs. Think of scripts as ritualized interactions—unwritten guidelines that shape how actors respond and adapt in real-time.

By differentiating between frames and scripts, we gain a richer understanding of how actors handle conflict. While frames help us understand the cognitive collective reprocessing, scripts offer insight into the tangible actions and interactions that can both create stability and drive adaptation.

Next time you face conflict and radical change, consider both the collective frames guiding your perceptions and the scripts informing your actions. Together, these constructs provide us with essential tools for navigating the complexities of conflict and change often following collective conflict and contestation.

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