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Introduction

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Counter-hegemonic Resistance in China's Hong Kong

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the contemporary political situation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region noting that after 17 years of Chinese communist rule the Region is a vivacious and provocative enclave of counter-hegemonic protest and resistance towards local and mainland dominate forces. It explains how Hong Kong, as a special enclave within the People’s Republic of China, continues to enjoy limited democracy and liberal freedoms such as freedom of speech, press, and protest under the “one country, two systems” ideology though these areas have become increasingly contested. Subsequently it introduces and briefly elucidates how the visibility of subaltern protest in the Region reflects a counter-hegemonic struggle over the visuality of the city and the “one country, two systems” notion which has most vividly been manifested in the visual disruptions of hegemonic notions of Hong Kong as an economic, not political, city, and of “one country, two systems” as a success. It concludes by describing data and methods employed in this exploratory study.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This phrase was noted on numerous online mobilization flyers for the protest either simply as a tagline or accompanied by visual representations of regime change, revolutions, or violent confrontations.

  2. 2.

    This movement also contains individuals and groups advocating “full autonomy” or “independence” for Hong Kong.

  3. 3.

    This quote is from a popular 2011 Hong Kong television drama, When Heaven Burns, has become a meme (Brodie 1996) among the dominated classes. The quote immediately achieved iconic status with many local dissidents and especially as a “hit phrase for young people disillusioned with Hong Kong society” (Ng et al. 2011). Numerous intertextual visual and verbal references to the meme can be found in offline and online protest paraphernalia 2 years later. It has even been observed as subversive tags in public spaces in the city.

  4. 4.

    The struggle against the Hong Kong and Chinese government’s Moral and National Education subject in 2012 was variously referred to as an “anti-National Education” or “anti-Moral and National Education” campaign. Critics and supporters of the campaign, as well as the local, national, and international media, have used one or the other term—generally without explanation. Some in the movement preferred to characterize themselves as “anti-National Education,” rather than “anti-Moral and National Education.” Others, intended to use the label “anti-Moral and National Education” to suggest the protesters were morally impaired, e.g., unpatriotic. Others, yet, simply attached “anti-” to the government’s name of the subject, “Moral and National Education,” without imputing any moral claim. Here, the term “anti-MNE” is used for accuracy and expediency’s sake. Indeed, no matter which term by activists was used the ruling forces’ reaction would have likely been the same. That said, it is recognized that under “one country, two systems” any discussion of national education/moral and national education implicitly invokes moral and pragmatic assumptions about Hong Kong, China, and the nature of citizenship, identity, and patriotism under capitalist, socialist, or hybrid political systems such as currently exists in the HKSAR.

  5. 5.

    Formerly titled Scholarism—The Alliance Against Moral & National Education.

  6. 6.

    Several images and posters met this description and invoked popular antiauthoritarian films such as Les Misérables, the Matrix Trilogy, and V for Vendetta. In a regime change context, several posters depicted China’s Liaison Office being destroyed by aliens, Hongkongers, or foreign forces like the USA.

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  1. City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Daniel Garrett

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  1. Daniel Garrett
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Correspondence to Daniel Garrett .

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Garrett, D. (2015). Introduction. In: Counter-hegemonic Resistance in China's Hong Kong. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-236-4_1

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