Civil disobedience movements in Hong Kong: a civil society perspective

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of civil disobedience (CD) movements in Hong Kong in the context of the notion of civil society (CS). Design/methodology/approach The paper begins by rigorously defining the notion of CD, as well as the concept of CS and tracing its development in Hong Kong over the past several decades. By using a model of CS typology, which combines the variables of state control and a society’s quest for autonomy (SQA), the paper aims to outline the historical development of CD movements in Hong Kong. It also discusses the recent evolution of CS and its relationship with CD movements, particularly focusing on their development since Leung Chun-ying became the Chief Executive in 2012. Finally, by using five cases of CD witnessed in the past several decades, the relationship between the development of CS and the emergence of CD in Hong Kong has been outlined. Findings Four implications can be concluded: first, CD cannot emerge when the state and society are isolated. Second, the level of SC and the scale of CD are positively related. Third, as an historical trend, the development of SQA is generally in linear progress; SQA starts from a low level (e.g. interest-based and welfare-based aims) and moves upwards to campaign for higher goals of civil and political autonomy. If the lower level of SQA is not satisfied, it can lead to larger scale CD in future. Fourth, the CD movement would be largest in scale when the state-society relationship confrontational and when major cleavages can be found within CS itself. Originality/value This paper serves to enrich knowledge in the fields of politics and sociology.

Protesting with Text and Image: Four Publications on the 2019 Pro-democracy Movement from Hong Kong Civil Society

“…Contributors to Lennon Walls may come from the grassroots or from the civil society, all showing their support for the prodemocracy movement. Civil society has long been an active participant in Hong Kong's social movements (Loh 2007;Wong and Chan 2017), and more than 70 pro-democracy labour unions were formed by January 2020 in the hope of influencing the upcoming Chief Executive election. 18 Religious groups were also visible on protests sites, especially at the beginning of the movement, when pacifist Christians joined by nonreligious citizens stood in front of armed police singing "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord" for hours to defuse tension and protect protesters.…”