DATE: Monday, May 8, 2023
TIME: 13:30 – 15:00
LOCATION: SIN 2, at the Department for East Asian Studies/Chinese Studies, Altes AKH, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Yard 2, Entrance 2.3

This talk will focus on the protests that rocked Hong Kong in the 2010s, many of which pushed back at moves to bring the city more in line with mainland patterns, and the repressive moves of the 2020s that have curtailed civil society and the rule of law in the metropolis. How can comparative moves help us understand both the protests associated with events such as the Umbrella Movement, and the crackdowns associated with moves such as the imposition of the new National Security Law? Are the best comparisons to be found by looking to other periods and other parts of the PRC? Or by looking to other places? Or via a combination of both of these things? This talk will explore questions such as these, drawing on the author's 2020 book Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, as well as work he has been doing since that came out that is laying the groundwork for a new short book on the Milk Tea Alliance of today and connections between East and Southeast Asian fights for democracy in the past.

For more information, please refer to the attached PDF