Hong Kong's Umbrella and Hard Hat revolutions: toward a theory of the ideology of protest strategies
Date
2021
Authors
Gilmore, Andrew, author
Dickinson, Greg, advisor
Aoki, Eric, committee member
Diffrient, David Scott, committee member
Mao, KuoRay, committee member
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Abstract
In this study, I analyzed Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Revolution and 2019 Hard Hat Revolution to answer two research questions: (1) What ideologies characterize the protest strategies of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and Hard Hat Revolution? and (2) What protest mechanisms communicate the ideologies of the protest strategies of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and Hard Hat Revolution? Using participant interviews, mass media, social media, and my own embodied experiences, I analyzed three major protest mechanisms of the two revolutions—metaphors of the home, the use of public transportation infrastructure, and the portrayal of political leaders. My analysis led me to uncover two distinct theoretical protest ideologies that characterize the Umbrella and Hard Hat Revolutions—One World, One Dream (Umbrella Revolution) and Our World, Our Dream (Hard Hat Revolution)—and the tenets that undergird these two ideologies. My development of the two ideologies revealed that the two major differences in ideological approaches and their communication mechanisms derived from different audiences—the target audience for the Umbrella Revolution was potential external allies, while the target audience for the Hard Hat Revolution was the Hong Kong police force and the Hong Kong and Beijing governments.
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Subject
communication
ideology
social movements
Hong Kong
China
rhetoric