Hong Kong : a new page for affective mobilization
Document Type
Book chapter
Source Publication
Social media uprising in the Chinese-speaking world
Publication Date
2011
First Page
48
Last Page
74
Publisher
Hong Kong In-Media
Abstract
Since the 1970s, the main agency of social movements and civil society in Hong Kong has been nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the intervention of social workers. The more radical actions of social workers were influenced by Saul Alinsky, with resident and neighbor groups actively organizing and integrating with the social workers in community development. The anti-eviction movement of the rooftop squatters in the early 1990s exemplifies the trend at the time. Social workers with experience in community development would actively involve themselves in the community, informing residents about predicaments they faced, organizing them for acts or resistance through group sharing and discussion. However, the Establishment was able to put pressure on social work organizations through budget cuts for community development projects and demands for greater professionalization. Gradually, the majority of social workers were co-opted by the Establishment, and their aims shifted toward dissolving social conflicts. At the same time, many social actions have been evolved into some sort of ritualistic “polite politics” (Ho, 2000).
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2011 Hong Kong In-Media.
Additional Information
Chinese version: 林藹雲、葉蔭聰 (2011)。香港篇 : 情感動員的新一頁。輯於葉蔭聰 (主編)，《草根起義 : 從虛擬到真實》(頁57-94)。香港 : 上書局。
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Lam, O.-W., Ip, I.-C., & Lee, C.-L. (Trans.) (2011). Hong Kong: A new page for affective mobilization. In I.-C. Ip (Ed.), Social media uprising in the Chinese-speaking world (pp. 48-74). Hong Kong: Hong Kong In-Media.