Negotiating Autonomy at the Edges of Authoritarianism: New Activism, Identity Politics and the Umbrella Movement of Hong Kong

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

In late September 2014, one of the biggest pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong following a weeklong class boycott and the failure of the police to disperse protesters. In the following month, thousands of protesters camped in several major roads, raging against Beijing’s decision to vet candidates in the 2017 Chief Executive election. While still ongoing, what came to be called the Umbrella Movement has redefined Hong Kong politics in many aspects. The occupation has marked a new chapter for the city’s struggle for democratization and more autonomy to decide on domestic affairs under the guaranteed but contested “One Country, Two Systems”. It has introduced new forms of contention that will change patterns of engagement between and among different political actors: pro-democracy supporters, pro-Beijing loyalists, Hong Kong government and Beijing. It has also provided a spatial context for the reinvention and politicization of a localist identity, which attempts to define a set of shared cultural values setting Hong Kong apart from China.

This panel draws together several papers on contentious and identity politics in relation to the Umbrella Movement. It aims to discuss the causation, dynamics, responses, and significances of this important episode. How will new forms of contentious and identity politics influence future political development in Hong Kong vis-à-vis China? Does it strengthen or weaken claims-making for more autonomy under “One Country, Two Systems”? These questions will be important for assessing the possibility of democratic transition (or survival) under an increasingly proactive and visible authoritarian framework directed by Beijing.

Area of Study

• China and Inner Asia

Session Organizer

• Samson Yuen, Oxford University

Chair

• Sebastian Veg, The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China

Individual Presentations

• Civility and passivity: Dynamics of Contention in Umbrella Movement - Samson Yuen, Oxford University

• Reinventing Civic Pride: Rationality and Utopianism in the Umbrella Movement - Edmund Wai Cheng, London School of Economics

• Hong Kong 2014: Tibet 1959 Redux? - Ho-fung Hung, Johns Hopkins University

• Localism and Cultural Nationalism in Hong Kong since the Handover - Sebastian Veg, The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China