The Contemporary Epoch of Struggle: Contextualizing Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement

Abstract

This article contextualizes Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement that emerged in the fall of 2014. We argue that first, the Umbrella Movement was not merely about democracy but must be understood in the context of widening inequality and an ongoing housing and wage crisis; second, that it is part of a broader epoch of contention informed by, third, a distinct “rhizomatic movement logic” that is defined by a diversity of actors and struggles, use of social media, leaderless and grassroots mobilizing, distrust of institutional actors. Fueled by shifts in capital accumulation and changes in communication technologies, the currently dominant movement logic is distinct from previous movement politics. Since the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1994, it has informed movements such as Occupy, the Arab Spring, and more recently the Gilets Jaunes as well as the Umbrella Movement. To be sure, we are not claiming that all these struggles are the same. We stress the similarities exhibited by these movements’ “deep grammar,” so to speak, while recognizing that each must be understood in its particularities. We thus specify the context of Hong Kong and provide illustrations of how this logic has impacted the Umbrella Movement’s actors, organizing, and movement-building dynamics.