Decolonization as Egalitarian Transformation: Hong Kong’s Unfinished Struggle

Chan, SY

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4659-1_6

SY Chan⁵

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Abstract

This chapter argues that decades of “crude anti-imperialism” from the Chinese and Hong Kong regimes has not resulted in a decolonized Hong Kong, but instead reproduced structures of inequality that continue to perpetuate domination and exploitation. Against this, I propose an understanding of decolonization as egalitarian transformation that is based on a fuller reading of the anti-colonial tradition. This vision of a decolonized society has important implications for Hong Kong’s democratic struggle. While certain practices and dispositions that emerged out of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement moved toward this vision, there have also been significant developments which, if left unchecked, may undermine its attainment in the long run.

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Notes

1.
No serious theorist of nationalism and anti-imperialism (that I know of) defends crude anti-imperialism. The term should instead be taken as denoting a recognizable real-world political discourse that has broadly circulated in some postcolonial (semi-) authoritarian societies, invoked by governments from time to time to justify certain policies.
2.
The Anti-ELAB movement and the events leading up to it are discussed in Holbig (2020) and Lee et al. (2019).
3.
On persistent colonialism beyond formal colonialism, see Mignolo (2011).
4.
Hong Kong was number one at the top of the list when The Economist first published its crony-capitalism index in 2014. In 2016, The Economist aggregated Hong Kong’s data with China, which ranked 11th on the list of 22 countries.
5.
For an analysis of solidarity in the movement, see Lee (2020).
6.
See Fanon’s account of how collective resistance transforms gender and family relations in Fanon ([1959] 1967).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Wilfred Chan, Elton Chan, and T.H. Jiang for helpful feedback on earlier drafts. I would also like to thank the Editors of this volume, especially Wen Liu and JN Chien for their helpful suggestions and comments.

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Oxford University, Oxford, UK
SY Chan

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Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Wen Liu
Department of American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
JN Chien
Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Christina Chung
Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Ellie Tse

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Chan, S. (2022). Decolonization as Egalitarian Transformation: Hong Kong’s Unfinished Struggle. In: Liu, W., Chien, J., Chung, C., Tse, E. (eds) Reorienting Hong Kong’s Resistance. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4659-1_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4659-1_6
Published: 27 January 2022
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Online ISBN: 978-981-16-4659-1
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