Revitalizing the role of relative deprivation: An analysis of contemporary teacher protest strike emergence.

This article analyzes the role of relative deprivation in the 2018–2019 wave of U.S. K-12 teacher protest strikes, based on 35 interviews with teacher leaders involved in these strikes. It finds that relative deprivation—defined as individuals' or groups' perceptions of being worse off compared to a reference group—played a dual role: as a grievance motivating strikes primarily when comparisons involved nearby districts affecting teachers' lived experiences, and as a strategic framing tool used by teacher leaders to build solidarity and mobilize support across broader groups. Comparisons with distant states or similarly educated professionals were less often cited as direct grievances but were frequently employed in framing to attract participants. The study highlights the importance of proximity in relative deprivation's impact on protest emergence and advances social movement theory by emphasizing framing's role alongside grievance in teacher activism.