Introduction: The Umbrella Movement and Liberation Theology

Abstract

This book gathers the voices of four local Hong Kong theologians to reflect on the 2014 democracy protests in the city from the perspectives of Catholic social teaching, feminist and queer intersectionality, Protestant liberation, and textual exegesis. The volume also includes an extended primer on Hong Kong politics to aid readers as they reflect on the theology underlying the democracy protests. September 28, 2014 is known as the day that political consciousness in Hong Kong began to shift. As police fired eighty-seven volleys of tear gas at protesters demanding ℓ́ℓgenuine universal suffrageℓ́ℓ in Hong Kong, the movement (termed the ℓ́ℓUmbrella Movementℓ́ℓ) ignited a polarizing set of debates over civil disobedience, government collusion with private interests, and democracy. The Umbrella Movement was also a theological watershed moment, a time for religious reflection. This book analyzes the role that religion played in shaping the course of this historic movement. Foreword; Acknowledgments; Contents; Notes on Contributors; Chapter 1: Introduction: The Umbrella Movement and Liberation Theology; Notes; Part I: A Primer on Occupying Hong Kong; Chapter 2: The Umbrella Movement and the Political Apparatus: Understanding "One Country, Two Systems"; Introduction: Priming Hong Kong; Placing the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; "Gradual and Orderly Progress": Universal Suffrage and the Legal Apparatus of "One Country, Two Systems." Legislative Council and the Civil Human Rights Front: Functional Constituencies, Pan-democratic Legislators, and the Theological Problem of RepresentationThe Chief Executive Elections: Functional Constituencies, Private Property, and the Theological Question of Participation; Is the Court of Final Appeal Final? Judicial Autonomy and Theological Reflections on Minority Rights; The SAR Apparatus and Theologies of Protest: Toward the Umbrella Movement; The Umbrella Movement and Occupy Central: An Orientation. Occupy Central with Love and Peace: Democratic Deliberation and the Idea of Civil Disobedience in 2013-2014The Umbrella Movement: Practicing Civil Disobedience in a Leaderless Movement; Conclusion: Toward Theological Reflection on the Umbrella Movement; Notes; Part II: Theological Reflections on the Umbrella Movement; Chapter 3: Solidarity and Division Among Hong Kong People in the Occupy Movement: Reflection from a Hong Kong Catholic Perspective; Introduction: Catholic Social Teaching and the Occupy Movement; The Occupy Movement: A Struggle for Democracy and Justice. How the Occupy Movement Began: Student Strikes Against "Small Circle" ElectionsPolice Violence: The Urge for More People to Come out; Democracy and Social Justice: Underlying Social and Political Issues in Hong Kong; Theological and Ethical Reflections: The Occupy Movement and Catholic Social Teaching; Democracy and Political Participation; Conscience and Civil Disobedience; The Common Good; Solidarity and Love; Dialogue; Conclusion; Notes; Chapter 4: Radical Inclusion in the Umbrella Movement: Interstitial Integrity and the New Pentecostal Rebirth of Hong Kong. Radical Inclusion in Occupy Central with Love and Peace and the Umbrella MovementThe Rebirth of Hong Kong: Two Reflections on the Inner Conscience of the Umbrella Movement; The Awakening of the Younger Generation: From Ruled Subjects to Free Citizens; Civil Disobedience and Conscience: The Development of a New Inner Consciousness; Awakening a New Theological Consciousness: Faith and Radical Inclusion; The Radical Inclusiveness of the Umbrella Movement: A New Pentecostal Experience; The New Pentecostal Experience as a Faith Challenge: Practical Eschatology and Hong Kong Christianity.