Hong Kong: Social Imaginaries and Post-Colonial Identities in the Umbrella Revolution.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent demands for democracy apropos of the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong are the result of postcolonial determinations. We suggest that this is part of social discourses founded on narratives of cultural difference, portraying a distinctive Hong Kong’s identity in contrast to Mainland China. Even though we recognise the influence of networked transnational movements in this movement, we establish that there is a postcolonial strategic essentialism guiding the demands for participatory democracy in Hong Kong. This article is organised in three sections. First, we present the Umbrella Revolution characteristics, organisation, and demands. In the second part, we introduce a theoretical analysis about the existence of a certain social imaginary emanated from the island’s post-colonial condition. In the third section, we elaborate about collective actions in the light of the New Social Movements theory. Finally, we conclude by highlighting the insistence on including a postcolonial route as to enhance the understanding of this kind of mass mobilisations, since it allows the aggregation of local features toward comprehending the formation and development of social movements in the Global South.

Keywords

• Postcolonialism
• social imaginaries
• social movements
• Hong Kong
• Umbrella Revolution