Citizenship and multicultural social work: Challenges and opportunities of ethnic minority youth in political engagement in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article reports on qualitative research investigating Pakistani minority youth’s political engagement in the 2019 Anti-Extradition Movement in Hong Kong. Some informants’ engagement was inhibited by challenges such as institutional limitations, while others identified various opportunities. This article presents an Asian example from a unique historical context to illuminate the potential role of political engagement in ethnic minority youth’s personal and social development and how the citizenship social work framework enhances understanding of ethnic minority youth and cultural competence in multicultural social work. Furthermore, it advocates social work as an empowering agency to implement citizenship rights for ethnic minority youth.