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People Power as Exception: Three Controversies of Privatisation in Post-handover Hong Kong

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  • Cecilia Chu

    (Department of Architecture, University of California at Berkeley, 370 Wurster Hall, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA, ceciliachu@berkeley.edu)

Abstract

This paper examines three controversies that revolve around the Hong Kong government’s efforts to privatise components of its property assets in the years following the Asian financial crisis in 1997. While the rolling back of welfare and privatisation of public goods are typical features of the ‘neo-liberal turn’, the consequences of and responses to these processes are highly contingent upon specific historical experience and social practices. By examining the narratives of different actors over the course of these controversies, this paper aims to elucidate the contradictions and mutual entanglements between the ideology of neo-liberalism and everyday discourse and how the contestation in each of the three cases worked to reshape and ultimately to preserve the existing regime of legitimation. It also illustrates how the long-running ‘ laissez-faire ’ principles of Hong Kong’s colonial period have contributed to the ongoing absorption of political critique, thus exposing the limits of ‘people power’.

Suggested Citation

  • Cecilia Chu, 2010. "People Power as Exception: Three Controversies of Privatisation in Post-handover Hong Kong," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(8), pages 1773-1792, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:47:y:2010:i:8:p:1773-1792
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098009356121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bob Jessop & Ngai-Ling Sum, 2000. "An Entrepreneurial City in Action: Hong Kong's Emerging Strategies in and for (Inter)Urban Competition," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(12), pages 2287-2313, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Naomi C. Hanakata & Anna Gasco, 2018. "The Grand Projet politics of an urban age: urban megaprojects in Asia and Europe," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. David Ley & Sin Yih Teo, 2014. "Gentrification in Hong Kong? Epistemology vs. Ontology," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1286-1303, July.

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