This book challenges the widely held belief that Hong Kong's political culture is one of indifference. The term "political indifference" is used to suggest the apathy, naivete, passivity, and utilitarianism of Hong Kong's people toward political life.
It takes a broad historical look at political participation in the former colony and provides a new understanding of Hong Kong's political culture that embodies a combination of political activism and a culture of depoliticization. It includes in-depth study of thirteen selected cases from 1949 to 1979. The author carries the analysis to the present by highlighting developments in Hong Kong's political culture from 1980 to 2003 and examining the changing patterns of political participation in Hong Kong after the handover to China in 1997.
Contents
Introduction: Hong Kong - Rethinking Political Activism
1. A Critique of the Claims on Political Indifference
The Traditional Argument of Political Apathy
Surveys on Political Attitudes
A Critique of Siu-kai Lau's Concept of Political Aloofness
2. An Alternative Understanding of Political Participation
A Critique of the Orthodox Definition
Toward a Contextual Understanding of Political Participation
An Informed Definition of Political Participation
Conclusion
3. A Multiple Case Interpretive Approach
Historical Nature of the Study
Collective Dimension of Public Action
Contextual Understanding of Events
Alternative Interpretation
The Question of Generality
A Multiple-Case Interpretive Approach
Conclusion
4. Rebutting the Minimal Political Participation Claim
A Chronology of Significant Political Events
Statistics and Major Events of Political Participation
A New Comparison of Political Participation
Conclusion
5. Rediscovering Politics: Hong Kong between 1949 and 1959
The Campaign for Rent Control
The Campaign to Change the Marriage Laws
The Tramway Workers' Labor Dispute of 1952
The 1956 Riots
The Campaign to Remove a Marriage Ban on Nurses at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals
An Overview
6. Rediscovering Politics: Hong Kong in the 1960s
The 1964 Campaign against Telephone Rate Increases
The 1966 Star Ferry Riots
The First Campaign for Chinese as an Official Language
An Overview
7. Rediscovering Politics: Hong Kong in the 1970s
The Campaign for Equal Pay for Nurses
Defend the Diaoyutai Islands Movement of 1970
The Godber Issue
The 1975 Campaign against Telephone Rate Increases
The Campaign to Reopen the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School
An Overview
8. Political Discourses and Political Activism
Competing National Identities
Liberalism
Rights and Economic Fairness
Criticisms of Colonialism
Conclusion
9. The Culture of Depoliticization and Political Activism
The Trajectory of the Culture of Depoliticization
The Making of a Depoliticized Culture
Beyond Political Indifference
Conclusion
10. Conclusion
Epilogue
Change of Sovereignty and Limited Electoral Reform
Political Activism
Patterns of Political Participation
The Paradox of Activism and Depoliticization
The Discourse of Political Indifference
Conclusion
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