New Left Review 92, March-April 2015
sebastian veg
LEGALISTIC AND UTOPIAN
Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement
The umbrella movement—the mass occupations that roiled Hong Kong in the last three months of 2014—famously drew its name from the improvised use of umbrellas as shields against police tear gas, fired in an attempt to clear the first group of protesters on September 28. The humble but handy umbrella became a symbol of resistance by ordinary people, using everyday tools, against an unaccountable government. The movement shared some characteristics with other recent mobilizations: it has been widely compared to the 1989 occupation of Tiananmen Square, Occupy Wall Street and Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement of Spring 2014—but, as its participants point out, the twelve-week Umbrella Movement outlasted them all.
|
Subscribe for just £40 and get free access to the archive Please login on the left to read more or buy the article for £3 |
’My institution subscribes to NLR, why can't I access this article?’