The re-making of developmental citizenship in post-handover Hong Kong

Abstract

In the existing literature of citizenship studies, Hong Kong citizens are described as enterprising, depoliticized individuals. Such formulation, however, falls short in explaining the emergence and resilience of civil society activism from the mid-2000s, particularly the anti-extradition protests in 2019. This article reexamines Hong Kong's citizenship in the post-handover era from the perspective of developmental politics. We argue that Hong Kong's citizenship is the product of dynamic struggles between state and society over the city's development. After 2003, the state was driving Hong Kong towards national integration with Mainland China, and the civil society was responding to such integration with resistance and antagonism. As a result, Hong Kong's citizenship was politicized into highly contested forms of developmental citizenship. It remains uncertain as to whether and how Hong Kong's citizenship can be transformed to reconcile the state-society tensions over the city's future development.

The role of university leaders in a political crisis: Students' perspectives from Hong Kong

“…the UK and Chile), where student protests emerged primarily against neoliberal reforms in higher education (Brook, 2017). The localist characteristics also resonate with Wong and So's (2020) argument that Hong Kong's citizenship was politicised in the process of synchronising the city's development with that of China. Such analyses of citizenship in Hong Kong at the campus and societal levels are broadly in line with Altbach's (1989) argument that the development of campus politics is closely linked with the wider social and political situations.…”

“…In contrast, Hong Kong's reforms were underpinned 極化和社會分化的背景下 ，大學領導者難以調和有關大學定位的 衝突，他們只能被動地回應政治動盪，而這種被動回應則體現了 大學在政治危機中的脆弱性。 by developmental logic. They thus were detached from social innovation and political engagement and remain depoliticised (Lo, 2010;Wong & So, 2020). In other words, the neoliberal policies reiterate the conservative perspective on the nature of higher education.…”

“…Hong Kong's education has long been portrayed as depoliticised , as it was detached from the goal of nation building during the colonial period (Fairbrother, 2003; Jackson & O'Leary, 2019; Wong & So, 2020). Such an ideology of depoliticisation was encouraged by the colonial government to cultivate political apathy to British authority and China, therefore suppressing perceptions of an illegitimate colonial government (Fairbrother, 2003).…”