How identity has been in impact during the course and aftermath of the movement

1. Umbrella Movement:
Hong Kong Identity
Wai-Kwok Benson Wong @ GIS, HKBU
March 19, 2015

2. Contextualizing Hong Kong Identity
• Local identity (Bentu rentong): versus national identity –
inclusion & exclusion
• As an energy and a discourse in justifying the action
• E.g., campaigns of recovering Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun, Tai Po…
• Influence of the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan – resist the
China factor (Wu Jieh-min, 2012)
• The KMT under Ma Ying-jeou’s administration: economic and political
dependence on Mainland China  pro-Beijing business & commercial
force as the de facto PRC’s agenda in Taiwan  undermine freedom,
democracy and human rights
• E.g., “Save our own nation” [~Fuck the government]
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3. Visualizing local identity via protests
We/self = HK people vs. HKSARG + PRC
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4. Redefining local identity: Lion Rock Spirit
Challenging & altering the
Hegemonic claim: hardworking,
diligence, self-help (Antony Leung)
(due to exploitation) 
Persistence & genuineness
despite suppression
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5. Challenging & resisting nationalistic hegemony
China Hong Kong
Economic city, economic animals Political aspiration, political activism
Integration & dependence for future &
opportunities
Erosion of political & living space, re-
colonization, disappearance
Loving China (=CCP), loving HK Resisting the brainwashing, indoctrination &
culture of fakes/lies
Harmony, rule of law Suppression, rule by law, institutional decay
(e.g., ICAC, police)
Without PRC, without HK: water & food supply,
CEPA, visitors
Without HK, without PRC: financial functions of
HK; water & food supply & are NOT free of
charge; genuine products attract visitors
Dominance, control, manipulation, dependence Self-determination, autonomy, independence
Universal suffrage & full democracy after 2017 De facto authoritarianism & sham democracy
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6. 3 analytic dimensions of identity (Bernstein, 1997)
Dimension Particulars
Identity for
empowerment (E)
• Draw on an existing identity
• Construct a new collective identity
• Create and mobilize a constituency
• Implications for future activism
Identity as goal (G) • Challenge stigmatized identities
• Deconstruct restrictive social categories
• Seek recognition for new identities
Identity as strategy (S) • Identity deployment: use mainstream culture in a creative or critical way
• Identity for critique: confront the values, categories and practice of the
dominating culture
• Identity for education: challenge the dominant culture’s perception /
used strategically to gain legitimacy by playing on uncontroversial
themes
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7. 3 analytic dimensions of local identity
Dimension Particulars
Identity for
empowerment (E)
• Lion Rock Spirit: personal diligence  political aspiration
• Reproducing the cultural objects for genuine universal suffrage
• Self-determination of destiny
Identity as goal (G) • Challenge the national/China identity: dominance, hegemony, exclusion
• Challenge the political & economic dependence on China
• Local identity: space, interest, community, discourse, power, youth
Identity as strategy (S) • Identity deployment: Lion Rock Spirit
• Identity for critique: hardworking & diligence are misleading in face of
the incompetent & undemocratic government
• Identity for education: defending our community as well as dialect,
resisting the mainland China influence, taking action to recapture our
future; challenging economic development that is only an excuse to
cover up the dependence & hegemony
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