Social movements in China and Hong Kong: the expansion of protest space

Abstract

The starting point of this book is the acknowledgement that on one side Chinese individuals, freer from the constraints of the State, have to rely on their own efforts for their well-being and, on the other side, in some circumstances, they gather together to defend their interests. The individualisation of society goes hand in hand with the collective movements that emerged as a result of individual wants. There are not only internal factors leading to the emergence of collective forms of action, but also external ones and that's why the editors have chosen to encompass Hong Kong in their study. The authors argue that protest actions and movement taking place in the Mainland and Hong Kong have enabled both societies to expand their protest spaces. At a theoretical level, these developments lead us to reconceputalise citizenship as practised rather than as given.

Tabel of contents: Framing Social Movements in Contemporary China and Hong Kong / Khun Eng Kuah-Pearce & Gilles Guiheux Social Protests, Village Democracy and State Building in China: How Do Rural Social Protests Promote Village Democracy? / Baogang He Social Movements and State-Society Relationship in Hong Kong / Ngok Ma Social Movements and the Law in Post-Colonial Hong Kong / Albert H.Y. Chen Defining Hong Kong as an Emerging Protest Space: The Anti-Globalisation Movement / Khun Eng Kuah-Pearce ‘Old Working Class’ Resistance in Capitalist China: A Ritualised Social Management (1995-2006) / Jean-Louis Rocca Justifying the New Economic and Social Order: The Voice of a Private Entrepreneur / Gilles Guiheux The Rise of Migrant Workers’ Collective Actions: Toward a New Social Contract in China / Chloé Froissart Grassroots Activism and Labour Electoral Politics under Chinese Rule, 1997-2008 / Ming K. Chan Hong Kong’s Trade Unions as an Evolving Social Organisation and Their Prospects for the Future / Sek Hong Ng & Olivia Ip Non-governmental Feminist Activism in The People’s Republic of China: Communicating Oppositional Gender Equality Knowledge / Cecilia Milwertz & Wei Bu The Hong Kong Catholic Church: A Framing Role in Social Movement / Beatrice Leung Religiosity and Social Movements in China: Divisions and Multiplications / David A. Palmer

Het uitgangspunt van dit boek is dat Chinese individuen van hun eigen inzet uit moeten kunnen gaan, ongeacht de beperkingen die hen door de staat worden opgelegd. Om hun belangen beter te kunnen verdedigen sluiten sommige individuen zich aan bij sociale bewegingen, die tot sociale protesten kunnen leiden.