The Occupy Movement in Hong Kong

Lingnan University Digital Commons @ Lingnan University Theses & Dissertations Department of Sociology and Social Policy 9-7-2016 Repertoire, framing and visions : the occupy movement in Hong Kong Ho Man LEUNG Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.ln.edu.hk/soc_etd Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Leung, H. M. (2016). Repertoire, framing and visions: The occupy movement in Hong Kong (Master's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from http://commons.ln.edu.hk/soc_etd/40 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. Terms of Use The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. REPERTOIRE, FRAMING AND VISIONS -- THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT IN HONG KONG LEUNG HO MAN MPHIL LINGNAN UNIVERSITY 2016 REPERTOIRE, FRAMING AND VISIONS -- THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT IN HONG KONG by LEUNG Ho Man 梁灝文 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Sociology Lingnan University 2016 ABSTRACT REPERTOIRE, FRAMING, VISIONS -- THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT IN HONG KONG by LEUNG Ho Man Master of Philosophy The Occupy Movement is one of the most significant civic events in recent Hong Kong History. This thesis is an attempt to make a comprehensive understanding of the movement by analyzing the actual movement activities and illustrating occupiers’ justification of actions. Three major issues are of concern here. First, what actually happened during the movement? Second, why did the occupiers join the movement? Lastly, how did the occupiers justify their actions during the movement? In this regard, the concepts of repertoire, framing and vision, will be employed to guide this study. Considering the three main factions of the movement, including the left, localism and non-aligned occupiers, a series of in-depth interviews with occupiers of various factions are conducted to collect data. I argue that different factions share common instrumental tactics and strategies generally during the movement. Yet, different ways of interpreting the tortuous progress of democratization in Hong Kong have brought changes to the prevailing pattern of the actions which emphasized the tranquility and non-violence, and led to an internal strife between the localist occupiers and the others. Moreover, the non-aligned and leftist occupiers justified and identified their actions and reasoning with the communal and the economic visions of society respectively. However, instead of a vision of society, localist occupiers’ actions and rationales disclosed a vision of violence. That is the major difference between the localist faction and other factions of the movement. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents i List of Illustrations ii Acknowledgment iv Chapter 1 1 Chapter 2 11 Chapter 3 38 Chapter 4 52 Chapter 5 69 Chapter 6 116 Chapter 7 157 Chapter 8 182 Bibliography 189 i LIST OF ILLURSTRATIONS Figures Figure 1: Reactions to Beijing’s Decision 82 Figure 2: Protesters was counter-circling the police outside the Civil Square 88 Figure 3: Tents in the Admiralty site 97 Figure 4: The huge podium in Admiralty 98 Figure 5: An installation in Admiralty: “The Umbrella Man” 101 Figure 6: A cardboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jingping in Mong Kok 102 Figure 7: Chalk drawing on Harcourt Road 102 Figure 8: Placards in Causeway Bay 103 Figure 9: Occupiers were surrounding the main podium in Admiralty 106 Figure 10: Some banners writing the slogan: “I want real universal suffrage” in the occupied site 135 Figure 11: A booth in Admiralty named “Harcourt Mansion” 144 Figure 12: Gini Coefficient 1981-2011 146 Figure 13: Summary of the framing impacts on the progression of the movement 157 Figure 14: The economic vision of society of Karl Polanyi and leftist occupiers 166 Figure 15: The communal vision of society of Robert Nisbet and non-aligned occupiers 174 Figure 16: The vision of violence of Frantz Fanon and localist occupiers 180 (All photos in this thesis are taken by the author unless otherwise noted.) Tables Table 1: Strands of understanding 43 Table 2: Stages of the movement 57 Table 3: Factions of the Occupy Movement 65 Table 4: Respondent Characteristics 67 ii Table 5: Summary of the repertoire of the Occupy Central and stages of Occupy Movement 115 Table 6: The composition of the Hong Kong Legislative Council 1991-2012 125 Table 7: Four major collective action frames of Occupy Central 133 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of my dissertation has been a long journey. At no stage has it been easy. A number of people have contributed to shaping my view and improving my work over this period. I sincerely appreciate their support but I cannot mention them all—any list will always necessarily be incomplete. Be that as it may, there are a few people who cannot go unrecognized. First and foremost, my dissertation would never come to fruition without the excellent support of my supervisors, Professor Peter Baehr and Professor Chen Hon-fai. I have had the good fortune of encountering the wonderful teachers. Their faith and genuine caring made the impetus for me to complete my work. They inspired me to think and to study with passion and scrupulousness. In their word and deed, I saw the pure intelligent thought. More importantly, they taught me the vitality and significance of the sociological imagination, and the real value of being a scholar: “Think for yourself, mediated by the thoughts of others.” Thank you for all you have done for me. I would also like to give special thanks to all of the respondents. Their participation of the movement helped me to complete the dissertation. One of the helpful informants I must mention is Nicole Lau. Her passion for democracy and her love of the city have etched in my memory. She and her companions in arms have convinced me to believe that our city would finally be enhanced but not to whip up hatred or sow division. I have benefited from the assistance of many people. My gratitude is extended to Grace Wong, the senior officer of our department, for all the administrative support. I am also indebted to my friend, Nelson Lee. He has been most helpful in a wide variety of ways. At every stage along the way, iv Nelson read and commented to my drafts. For this, I am grateful. Two other friends I have to mention are Samuel To and Simon Cho. You both have lightened my dissertation journey. Thank you for your encouragement and humour. These acknowledgments would not be complete without giving thanks to my family. My parents and my sisters have given me with constant loving support of the most precious kind. Thank you for your unconditional love. Last, but certainly not least, I have to express my tremendous and fervent gratitude to my lover, Belle Law. Her patience and tolerance were indispensable for my intellectual pursuit. For many hours of quiet companionship, only she can know how much she means to me. Thank you for loving me. v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Occupy Movement in the fall of 2014 was, without a doubt, one of the most contentious, significant and high profile civic activities in Hong Kong. The longing of democracy flared up onto Hong Kong’s street – protests staked their democratic demands by barricading the main thoroughfares for more than two months. The campaign can be traced to British’s rule of the city until 1997. When the territory’s return was confirmed, there was an arrangement to assure the current social and economic systems in Hong Kong would remain unchanged through the establishment of the Basic Law. In it, the right of the people of Hong Kong to elect the Chief Executive1 and all members of Legislative Council2 by universal suffrage was assured. Yet, the promise has not been honoured more than 15 years after the territory’s return. In this regard, initiated with the aim of persuading the government to keep the promise and striving for universal and equal suffrage in the election of Chief Executive in 2017, two academics, legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting and sociologist Chan Kin-man, and a Baptist minister, Rev. Chu Yiu-ming, proposed a plan of civil 1 Article 45 of the Hong Kong Basic Law: “The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government. The method for selecting the Chief Executive shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures.” 2 Article 68 of the Hong Kong Basic Law: “……The method for forming the Legislative Council shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.” - 1 - disobedience titled “Occupy Central with Love and Peace” in early 2013 to put pressure on the government to compromise and establish a “real universal suffrage” proposal (Tai 2013a).Simply put, it was a campaign attempting to pursue a more democratic political reform package.

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