Ordinary citizens and political crises: The Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Movement (2019-2020)

Abstract

This study focuses on the actions and perceptions of individuals who participated in the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement in Hong Kong initiated in April 2019 and interrupted by the covid 19 pandemic and the adoption of the National Security Law in June 2020. Based on semi-struc­tured interviews, the article explains how ordinary citizens and first-time activists helped shape a political crisis and how it changed their political perceptions. The study adopts a theoretical perspective inspired by studies of collective action in contexts of political crises, placing the individual at the centre of the analysis and adopting a situational and proces­sual approach. The findings show that the actors perceived themselves as protagonists of historical events produced by the authoritarian turn of the Hong Kong political system thanks to the appropriation of new identities, the radicalisation of their liberal values and the mobilisation of their previous skills and resources.