Lingnan University Digital Commons @ Lingnan University Theses & Dissertations Department of Sociology and Social Policy 9-13-2013 Citizenship education in post-1997 Hong Kong : civic education or nationalistic education? Kit MAN Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.ln.edu.hk/soc_etd Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Man, K. (2013). Citizenship education in post-1997 Hong Kong: Civic education or nationalistic education? (Master's thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.14793/soc_etd.35 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. CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN POST-1997 HONG KONG: CIVIC EDUCATION OR NATIONALISTIC EDUCATION? by MAN Kit A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Social Sciences (Sociology) Lingnan University 2013 ABSTRACT Citizenship Education in Post-1997 Hong Kong: Civic Education or Nationalistic Education? by MAN Kit Master of Philosophy This study investigates citizenship education policy under the “One Country, Two Systems” model in Hong Kong. A number of studies have analyzed the Hong Kong-China national unification from the political, legal, economic, socio-cultural perspectives. This study approaches Hong Kong-China integration from the hotly contested issue of nationalistic education, attempted to be implemented by the Hong Kong government in the official school curriculum. I use as my data sources official documents issued by government agencies including the Chief Executive’s annual Policy Address, an internal report of the Commission on Strategic Development, and curriculum guides of the Curriculum Development Council to tease out the citizenship qualities desired by the Hong Kong government for the younger generation. Historians and social scientists distinguish between civic and ethnic types of citizenship or nationalism. While the civic model is often perceived as intrinsically liberal, voluntarist, universalist and inclusive, its ethnic “blood-and-soil” counterpart is usually associated with illiberal, authoritarian, ascriptive, particularist and excusive connotations. The widely discussed civic/ethnic dichotomy in citizenship and nationalism literature is used as the analytical framework to examine elements proposed by the government in its citizenship education documents. My research points out that the citizenship education policy in post-1997 Hong Kong under the dual process of state and national building is a hybridization of the civic/ethnic conceptions, in which the ethnic components dominate over the civic ones. I further argue that the “One Country, Two Systems” model is about the struggle between the civic and ethnic conceptions of citizenship rather than capitalism and communism. I also discuss the implications of the government’s pro-ethnic conception of citizenship education on political culture and rights of ethnic minority in Hong Kong, and the implication on the literature of sociology of citizenship. DECLARATION I declare that this is an original work based primarily on my own research, and I warrant that all citations of previous research, published or unpublished, have been duly acknowledged. ______________________ Man Kit Date CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES….……………………………………………………………….....vi LIST of FIGURES AND CHARTS…………………………………………………..vii LIST OF ABBREVIATION ………………………………………………………....viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………ix CHPATER 1 INTRODUCTION.…………………………………………………………………….1 1.1Background…………………………….…………………………………….….1 1.2 Aims of the Study..………………………………………………………….….3 1.3 Significance of the Study…..…………..……………………………………….4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………….6 2.1 Citizenship and Nation……………..……………………………………….6 2.1.1 Citizenship………………………………………………………..6 2.1.2 Nation and the Relevant Concepts………………………………..9 2.1.2.1 Nation…………………………………………………...9 2.1.2.2 National Identity……………………………………….10 2.1.2.3 Ethnie………………………………………………….11 2.1.2.4 Nationalism……………………………………………12 2.1.2.5 Primordialism and Modernism………………………...13 2.1.2.6 State……………………………………………………14 i 2.1.3 Citizenship and Nation…………………………………………..15 2.2 Citizenship and Citizenship Education in Hong Kong……………………17 2.2.1 Citizenship in Hong Kong………………………………………17 2.2.2 Citizenship Education…………………………………………...20 2.2.3 Historical Evolvement of Citizenship Education in Hong Kong..22 2.2.4 Students Resistance to Citizenship Education in Hong Kong…..25 2.3 Conclusion………………………………………………………………...26 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODLOGY…………………………………………………………………….28 3.1Introduction...………………………………………………………………28 3.2 Types of Documents and Data in Documentary Research………………...29 3.3 Getting Access to Documentary Data……………………………………..32 3.4 Justifying Documentary Research………………………………….……...33 3.5 Documentary Research and this Study……………………………….……37 CHAPTER 4 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK: THE CIVIC/ETHNIE DICHOTOMY MODEL……………………………………………………………………………….38 4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..38 4.2 The Civic/Ethnic Dichotomy in Social Sciences………………………….39 4.3 Criticism on the Civic/Ethnic Dichotomy…………………………………41 4.4 Civic/Ethnic Dichotomy as Conceptual……………….…………………..44 ii 4.5 The Civic/Ethnic Dichotomy as the Conceptual Tool for this Study…..…47 4.6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………...49 CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS OF THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS: The CHIEF EXECUIVE’S POLICY ADDRESS (2007-2011)…………………………………………………....50 5.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..50 5.2 Background Information of Policy Address (2007-2011)………………...51 5.3 Citizenship Education for Which Community?...........................................53 5.4 Towards “Civic” or “Ethnic” Citizenship?..................................................55 5.5 Other Citizenship Elements………………………………….…………….56 5.6 Citizenship Characteristics Promoted in the Policy Address……………...57 5.7 Conclusion……………………….………………………………………...59 CHAPTER 6 ANALYSIS OF THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS: TASK GROUP ON NATIONAL EDUCATION, COMMISSION ON STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………………….60 6.1 Background Information of TGNE………………………………………..60 6.2 Citizenship Education for Which Community?...........................................61 6.3 Towards “Civic” or “Ethnic” Citizenship?..................................................64 6.4 Citizenship Characteristics Promoted by the TGNE………….……….......68 6.5 Conclusion…………….…………………………………………………...70 iii CHAPTER 7 ANALYSIS OF THE OFFCIAL DOCUMENTS: CURRICULUM DEVLOPMENT COUNCIL..…………………………………………………………………………...71 7.1 Background Information of the CDC………...……….…………………...71 7.2 Citizenship Education for Which Community?...........................................72 7.3 Towards “Civic” or “Ethnic” Citizenship?..................................................76 7.4 Citizenship Characteristics Promoted by the CDC………………….……………….79 7.5 The Moralizing of Citizenship Characteristics……………………………………..….82 7.6 Conclusion.………………………………………………………………………………..……………84 CHAPTER 8 ANALYSIS OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS: FINDINGS………………………...85 8.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..85 8.2 Citizenship Education for Which Community?...........................................85 8.3 Towards “Civic” or “Ethnic” Citizenship?..................................................86 8.4 Citizenship Characteristics Promoted by the State in Hong Kong….…….87 8.5 The Community of Citizens Promoted by the State in Hong Kong………88 8.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………..….90 CHAPTER 9 Discussion………………………………………………………………………….….91 9.1The Implication on Citizenship under “One Country, Two Systems”……..91 9.2The Implication on the Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong……….…………96 9.3The Implication of the Sociology of Citizenship…………………………100 9.4Conclusion………………………………………………………………..106 iv 9.5 Justifications and Limitations of the study………………………………108 9.5.1 Justification of the study……………………………………….108 9.5.2 Limitations and recommendation for further study……………110 APPENDICES………………………………………………………..……………..111 Appendix I: A Sample of Text Coding………………………………………111 Appendix II: Percentage Weight in the Documents of the Keywords Examined in the Tables………………………………………………………………......116 BIBLIOGRAPHY...………………………………………………..……………….122 v LIST OF TABLES Table 5A. Paragraphs and Words Dedicated to Selected Topics in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 Table 5B. Keywords Equivalent to “China” in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 (Chinese Version) Table 5C. Keywords Equivalent to “China” in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 (English Version) Table 5D. The Word “Hong Kong” in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 (Chinese and English Version) Table 5E. Keywords about Citizenship Quality in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 (Chinese Version) Table 5F. Keywords about Citizenship Quality in the CE’s Policy Address from 2007 to 2011 (English Version) Table 6A. Keywords Relevant to “China” in the PNEHK Report Table 6B. Keywords “Hong Kong” and “World” in the PNEHK Report Table 6C. Keywords Relevant to the “Civic” Idea in the PNEHK Report Table 6D. Keywords Relevant to the “Ethnic” Idea in the PNEHK Report Table 6E. Keywords Relevant to the “Civic” Idea of Part D “Experiences