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Abstract
Political stance and identity have become major axes dividing ordinary people in Hong Kong into hostile opposing groups. Using the 2017 Hong Kong Panel Study of Social Dynamics data, we used latent profile analysis to study the social divisions within Hong Kong society. Our results confirmed that there was indeed a latent class structure with two extremes—Hongkongese identification with a pro-democracy political orientation (the Yellow camp) versus Chinese identification with a pro-government political orientation (the Blue camp). The Yellow–Blue camps had evident disparities in attitudes toward political independence, violence, breach of law, and anti-mainland sentiments. Whereas the Yellows were characterized by extreme localism that could be described as peripheral nationalism, the Light Yellows were a milder group preferring greater autonomy, not independence. Our results also demonstrated generational gaps in the Yellow–Blue divide.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Center for Applied Social and Economic Research (CASER) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for providing access to HKPSSD data. The authors thank the participants at the conference and the CASER research team members for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Notes
1 Examples of insightful studies of Hong Kong movements and the rise of localism include Burns (Citation2019), Cai (Citation2016), So (Citation2017), and Veg (Citation2017).
2 One example is “In Hong Kong, the world is either yellow or blue,” by Alex Lo, in the South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3089649/hong-kong-world-either-yellow-or-blue.
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Notes on contributors
Zhuoni Zhang
Zhuoni Zhang is Associate Professor in Urban Governance and Design Thrust, Society Hub, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China and Affiliate Associate Professor in Division of Social Science and Division of Public Policy, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China. Her research focuses on social stratification and mobility, population migration, labor market, and urban studies.
Peiwei Gu
Peiwei Gu is a PhD student in Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include class and social inequality, social mobility, and attitudes toward migration and migrants.