Local identity in a global city: Hong Kong localist movement on social media

Abstract

Despite rapid globalization, various countries witnessed a rise of social movements based on local identities in the past decade. Drawing reference from theories of cultural identity, this essay first establishes a discursive understanding of local identity, in which the local is relationally articulated against the non-local. Second, this framework of local identity is applied to a particular case—the Hong Kong localist movement. This essay investigates the discursive construction of a Hong Kong local identity through analyzing the social media postings by localist advocacy groups. It is argued that the local identity articulated in the localist movement is a fluid, contested construct situated within specific regional geopolitics and colonial legacy. A branch of the localist movement, as represented by Youngspiration and Demosisto, navigated the contestation among the triad of local, national, and global identities by contriving the trope of the “local youth.” This trope, while efficiently embracing the global identity and distancing the local identity from the national identity, creates a purist narrative that hinders the institutionalization of the localist agenda.