How can power discourses be changed?

Social policy impact is partly determined by how policy is articulated and advocated, including which values are highlighted and how. We examine the influence of policy framing and reframing on outcomes, with particular reference to policies of the Delhi state government in India that target the practices of female feticide, infanticide and neglect that underlie the ‘daughter deficit’. Using Snow and Benford’s categories for understanding reframing processes, the paper outlines and applies a ‘model’ of reframing disputed issues, derived from looking at two famous campaigns – Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March in the struggle for Indian freedom from British rule and the African- American civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 60s. It argues that ‘carrot and stick’ policy measures, such as financial incentives and legal prohibitions, to counteract the ‘daughter deficit’ must be complemented by well crafted discursive interventions.