Polarization of opinions in social media: Investigating the formation and fragmentation of discourse of localism in Hong Kong.

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentationpeer-review

Abstract

Political discourse arises when it seizes discursive opportunities in the society by exploiting the social, political and cultural cleavages. It also evolves and transforms across the changing social and political contexts (Steinberg, 1999). This paper seeks to investigate the formation, transformation and fragmentation of the discourse of localism in Hong Kong. It is argued that the rise and evolution of the localism discourse is a response to the ethnic-civic cleavage in the society. Moreover, by examining the representations in the mainstream and alternative media, it is found that alternative media have facilitated the emergence of the localism discourse, but at the same time, reinforcing the fragmentation and polarization of the discourse in recent years. The discourse of localism arising in Hong Kong focuses on the preservation of identity and autonomy of local citizens in resisting the growing political infringement by the Chinese authoritarian State into the political and social affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It also signifies the unprecedented realignment of the political dichotomy between the “pro-establishment camp” and the “democratic camp” that has been prevailing for decades in the political spectrum in the Hong Kong society. It is considered as a disappointment towards the democratic camp as it has adopted strong “anti-China” positions than the democratic camp overall (Kwong, 2016).

The traces of the localism discourse can be connected with the series of heritage preservation movement in the 2000s, whose activists fought to protect not Chinese high culture but mundane sites rooted in the everyday life of Hong Kong people. This notion of localism discourse embraced a post-materialist’ critique of capitalism, rejecting and carrying a ‘civic-oriented’ identification. However, the term localism was then fragmented into a more ethnic orientation in the later stages, striking for self-rule and autonomy in a more vigorous manner (Veg, 2017). This paper, drawing on content and textual analyses from mainstream and social media, investigates how the social and political cleavages in the post-handover context in Hong Kong have paved the way for the rise and fragmentation of localism discourses. Moreover, the roles of social media in leading to formation of fringe voices, as well as facilitating polarization and ‘cyberbalkanization’ of the opinions among the localists would also be discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2019
EventInternational Association for Media and Communication Research - Madrid, Spain
Duration: 7 Jul 201911 Jul 2019

Conference

ConferenceInternational Association for Media and Communication Research
Country/TerritorySpain
CityMadrid
Period7/07/1911/07/19

Keywords

  • Public Opinion
  • Discourse
  • Social media

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Polarization of opinions in social media: Investigating the formation and fragmentation of discourse of localism in Hong Kong.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this