Industrial Heritage: Valorising the Spatial–Temporal Dynamics of Another Hong Kong Story

This paper challenges current perspectives on Hong Kong heritage that are based predominantly on a dichotomous juxtaposition of traditional Chineseness vis‐à‐vis post‐colonial romanticism, and argues for a deeper appreciation of its industrial history and identity. Textured narratives are proposed that highlight the socio‐economic relationships that were/are essential components of the industrial (hi)story. Specifically, the paper identifies the time/space dimension as unique, and hence it should be valorised using context‐sensitive, carefully thought‐through and executed approaches. The paper presents an ‘other Hong Kong heritage story’ that foregrounds the compressed time–space nature of the city’s industrial history, the spatial organisation of manufacturing, and the dynamic spatial stretch that has been taken by the industrialisation process. Furthermore, a stretching of governance space for the identification, (re)presentation and conservation of heritage using a participatory approach is proposed. In the face of rapid deindustrialisation and pressure for urban renewal, prompt, well‐conceptualised and time/space‐sensitive efforts to valorise, preserve and manage this fast‐disappearing heritage in Hong Kong are vital.     

Editorial: Gender and sexual geographies of blackness: anti-black heterotopias (part 1)

This editorial theorizes the spatialization of black gender and sexual minorities. We examine the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality work to complicate the geographies of black gender and sexual marginality. Drawing on insights from Foucault's theory of heterotopia, we develop the concept of anti-black heterotopias to understand the spatial ordering of black gender and sexuality within the larger geographies of black people. We contend that if anti-black racism forces black people to live within contained landscapes that exist on the margins of whiteness, then black gender and sexual minorities, who are subject to violence and public ridicule, live in a placeless space, a location with no coordinates. In other words, the heterosexism/homophobia toward black gender and sexual minorities that is expressed in socio/spatial terms is complicit with the spatialization of anti-black racism. We also use anti-black heterotopias as a way to situate the eight articles in parts 1 and 2 of this themed section, as well as to highlight the theoretical linkages between them.     

Identity and Place: the testament of designated heritage in Hong Kong

This paper examines the extent to which the identity of Hong Kong as a place, and of the Hong Kong Chinese as people, is expressed by the official heritage locations (the seventy-five Declared Monuments) designated by Hong Kong's Antiquities and Monuments Office. The discussion takes account of other heritage initiatives, in particular two recent monuments that commemorate the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong to China. Conclusions are that designated heritage in Hong Kong, more by chance than by deliberate strategy, reflects significant elements of the identities of the Hong Kong people and of Hong Kong as a place. However, more important to the Hong Kong Chinese person's sense of identity than built heritage are the bonds of kin and associated social events.     

Gender,Sexuality and the Formation of Racial Identities in the Eighteenth‐Century Anglo‐Caribbean World

In recent years, scholars have directed considerable attention to the influence of gender relations and sexual practices on developing racial formations in early British America, the colonial Caribbean and the wider British empire. Understanding that unauthorised intimacies in the imperial world threatened notions of Britishness at home has greatly enhanced our knowledge of the complexity and instability of the process of collective identity formation. Building on pioneering research in early American and British imperial history, this article charts the connection between gendered concepts of ‘whiteness’ in Anglo‐Caribbean contexts and in metropolitan discourses surrounding British national identity, as articulated in eighteenth‐century colonial legislation and official correspondence, popular texts and personal narratives of everyday life. It explores the extent to which the socio‐sexual practices of British West Indian whites imperilled the emerging conflation between whiteness and Britishness.     

Discourse on migration and ethnic identity: interviews with professionals in Hong Kong

"This paper has revealed a complex set of relationships between migration, place and ethnic identity [in Hong Kong]. On the one hand, ethnic identity is shaped by the places where people have lived, particularly the places where they have spent the early years of their life; on the other [hand], places--being the context for socialization--provide the milieux where people learn who and what they are and how to act...." The authors note that "while legislation clearly regulates levels of immigration, international migration is also self-regulated by potential migrants in relation to interpretations of their ethnic identities and their perceptions of 'other' places."     

Femininities on transnational journeys and sexual health risk: experiences of Chinese immigrant women in Canada

Negotiations at work in a globalising China in regard to femininity, sexuality, and family relationships have been well documented from the 1990s. Nonetheless less is known about them in a transnational context, and femininities are far less explored than masculinities. Drawing on interview data from a larger research study of transnationalism and gendered HIV vulnerability, this article investigates the intersection of femininity, sexuality and sexual health risk through Chinese immigrant women’s narratives about their experiences in Canada. It examines to what extent these intimate negotiations within China are re-enacted through Chinese immigrant women’s transnational experiences in Canada. These women live ‘in-between’ China and Canada in terms of identity, space and time with their cross-cultural connections unveiling both virtual and actual relations. Gender norms and roles, intimate and sexual experience, and family relations are realigned in the transnational lives of these women and are impacted by both their home and host societies, as well as their past and present experience in China. Used in the article as a concept and an analytical lens, gender is acknowledged as a key organising principle in post-immigration individual and social experience.     

The Mystery of Capital: Eurasian Entrepreneurs' Socio-Cultural Strategies for Commercial Success in Early 20th-Century Hong Kong

Unlike economic capital, which is visible and easy to calculate, social capital is intangible and difficult to assess. Although both types of capital are crucial in determining social relations and social behaviour, little solid research has been done on the latter. This paper attempts to use the rags-to-riches story of Sir Robert Ho Tung, a first-generation Hong Kong Eurasian entrepreneur who commenced life without traditional social/cultural capital as the illegitimate son of a Chinese woman and a Dutchman, to illustrate the processes involved in cultivating and accumulating social capital. With special reference to economic development in early colonial Hong Kong and major social transformations in the Chinese mainland, this paper also demonstrates how a group of so-called social/racial “half-caste bastards” (Eurasians) were able to form their own social networks of mutual help and protection. It also considers how they worked to consolidate, mobilise, aggrandise and transmit their social capital. In conclusion, it is argued that Eurasians in early twentieth-century Hong Kong constructed their personal networks like a web, with different interconnecting layers that functioned at different socio-economic-political levels to serve different purposes.     

Policy and creative strategies: Hong Kong CEPA films in the China market

Abstract

This article examines the creative strategies of Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) films in engagements with the China market under the framework of CEPA introduced in 2004. One of the aims of CEPA for the film sector is to boost co-production between Hong Kong and the mainland. In the past 10 years, CEPA has dramatically changed Hong Kong cinema’s relationship with China in that major film directors have moved to produce CEPA films to tap into the rapidly growing mainland market. This shift has been considered as part of HKSAR’s overall mainlandization and subsequent disappearance of a distinct local identity. This article revisits this view by presenting two case studies to see if indeed Hong Kong CEPA pictures are devoid of Hong Kong elements. The case studies analyze textual elements of two CEPA blockbuster films, The Mermaid (dir. Stephen Chow, 2016) and The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D (dir. Tsui Hark, 2014). Citing the intertextual allusions to the directors’ old works seen in these two films, the authors argue that the market advantage granted by the CEPA scheme in effect allowed Hong Kong filmmakers to revive and extend signature creative strategies of Hong Kong cinema, despite censorship constraints.     

流动与认同：以香港居民为例

“接触假说”认为,群体间的接触和交往越多、偏见越少。这个观点有一定的局限性。本文使用香港社会动态跟踪调查2013年的数据,分析了受访者跨境流动频率对“中国人”身份认同的影响。研究发现,跨境流动的频率与“中国人”身份认同有显著的关系。跨境流动刚开始确实可以提升香港居民的“中国人”认同;随着流动频繁,“中国人”认同转而趋弱。结果表明,跨境流动对香港居民“中国人”身份认同的影响是非线性的,当流动频率超过某个节点,认同就不再增强甚至转而下降。研究结果揭示出身份认同是在寻求相似性和差异性两者的互动中形成的,并因应不同的社会情境而发生改变。香港与内地的差异体验越深,不同的身份认同越难合一。     

Cross-border connection between Hong Kong and mainland China under 'two systems' before and beyond 1997

Cross-border flows of people, goods and capital are fundamental forces triggering spatial and economic transformations in any cross-border regional production system. This study focuses on such cross-border links between Hong Kong and mainland China in the context of cross-border regional production systems. The paper examines first the close demographic ties and investment and trading relations between Hong Kong and mainland China before 1997. In terms of total direct and indirect trading, and outward investment, Hong Kong was the largest partner of mainland China and vice versa. The recent development in the cross-border development between Hong Kong and the mainland after 1997 is also analyzed. The political change, the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, did not alter the demographic-economic linkages significantly as such connections had been well established during the period 1978 to 1997 after China's opening to the outside world. Hong Kong and mainland China are two independent economic entities practicing ‘two systems’ of capitalism and socialism respectively. Contrary to common expectation, the new government in Hong Kong only played a limited role after 1997. However, a bottom-up approach has been working spontaneously and the local people and businessmen in Hong Kong have been the primary force in establishing strong relations with the mainland facilitated by the close demographic-cultural ties both before and after 1997.     

Heritage,Identity and Tourism in Hong Kong

Once a part of the Chinese Empire, Hong Kong then became a British colony and changed its status again in 1997 to that of a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The implications of this history for heritage and cultural identity are discussed with particular reference to their representation and promotion as tourist attractions. Hong Kong is seen to be using its unique heritage in a time of transition and uncertainty to assist in defining a distinct identity that is partly expressed through tourism. There are, however, certain potential conflicts of meaning and interpretation amongst the interested parties that have still to be resolved. The experience of Hong Kong provides an insight into the dynamics of the relationship between identity, heritage and tourism that are especially complex within the context of decolonisation.     

公共空间内犯罪被害性别差异的阐释:基于整合性的理论视角

激进女权主义以父权制为理论核心,为私人空间内发生的女性被害提供了直接的解释。然而,父权制却无法对公共空间内存在的被害性别差异提供完备的解释。基于女权主义犯罪学、日常活动理论和时间地理学,本文从整合的视角,以父权制作为结构性起点,以劳动分工和女性对犯罪的恐惧为中间环节,以女性日常活动中时空约制对其被害风险的影响为落脚点,阐释了公共空间内犯罪被害性别差异的原因。最后总结了本文的解释思路,并为进一步促进我国犯罪地理学发展提出了一些建议。     

‘Some Very Queer Couples’: Gender Migrants and Intimacy in Nineteenth-Century America

This article contends that the term gender migrant – which describes a person who changed gender on a long-term basis in their everyday life – offers a useful tool for grappling with the ambiguities of nineteenth-century transgender history. Examining four cases of gender change that circulated in the popular press between the antebellum era and the turn of the twentieth century, the article brings to light intimate relationships that do not fit within the categories of female husbands or sexual inverts that have become familiar to historians of sexuality. Some female-assigned gender migrants lived as men and sought same-gender intimacy in the company of other men. Reading ambiguous cases of love and marriage from multiple angles provides insight into the strategies that resourceful gender migrants used to legitimise their public gender identities.     

Postcolonial cultural governance: a study of heritage management in post-1997 Hong Kong

This paper seeks to unpack the politics of heritage preservation in post-1997 Hong Kong. Referring to international frameworks on heritage preservation, it seeks to position Hong Kong’s cultural resource management on par with international discourses for the advancement of heritage governance. Debates surrounding heritage are indeed a part of the wider picture of Hong Kong’s cultural and identity politics and the Hong Kong-China relationship. By examining various contested cases of heritage conservation, and by linking those debates back to the government’s responses within the context of cultural governance, we suggest that heritage management has become a hot stove for cultural politics in post-colonial Hong Kong with deep repercussions in the political, social and economic spheres. The paper examines the rising social debates concerning the removal and conservation of built heritage, and the various government attempts to address these debates. It argues that the current heritage governance mechanism has failed to meet social needs and provide an articulated heritage policy. We propose that a coherent organisational structure is required to better accommodate diverse and contradictory views and discourses surrounding heritage and cultural governance and to tackle the various cultural challenges in postcolonial Hong Kong.     

“非正常”的文化标签下“同志”社会空间的生产——以广州市X公园“同志渔场”为例

性少数群体对于城市空间的利用是城市研究中的新兴话题。这类研究主要探讨"非主流"的社会身份如何通过对特定的社会空间的利用,引发空间意义的生产及社会关系的建构。本文以广州市X公园的"同志渔场"为案例,研究男同性恋者对于城市公共空间的利用与体验。研究认为,X公园的"同志渔场"不仅给性少数群体提供了性身份暂时解放的空间,亦是其不断体验自身"非正常"的身份标签的空间。同志的空间实践体现的不是对于主流的社会规范的抵抗。相反,他们的空间实践是明显地处在"非正常"这一身份标签的作用之下的。     

城市少数民族社区地方认同的消解与重构

在城市空间生产与再生产过程中,城市少数民族社区空间形态及功能的重大改变,需通过地方重构以维系少数民族地方特色及文化传承。开封善义堂回族社区案例研究发现,城市少数民族社区的地方形成以及地方认同建构,依赖于自身独特的居住环境及文化传统。少数民族社区由聚居转变为散居的地方变迁,对居民的地方感知及地方归属感具有重要影响。集中代表地方意义的独特空间,有助于地方及认同的重构。城市少数民族社区中被赋予特殊意义的空间,对地方的建构及文化的传承具有关键作用。     

晚清时期香港与两广的贸易关系

晚清时期香港与两广的贸易关系极为密切.广东大珠江三角洲地区、粤东潮汕地区和粤西南地区,以及广西的北部湾地区、桂西南地区和西江流域依凭13个口岸与香港展开了繁密的贸易往来.不同地区的洋货进口结构略有不同,而土货出口结构则差别极大,反映出区域经济发展的差异.此外,新辟口岸分流效应使原有的贸易路线发生转移,商路的变迁有规律可循.     

基于居民感知的跨界意义研究——以深港跨界居民为例

对于在边界两侧居住的居民，跨界流动、居民对边界另一侧的地方感、跨界的个人意义以及跨界的区域意义这四者之间的互动关系是值得关注的话题。本文基于深港跨界居民的调查数据，构建了路径模型来分析上述四者之间的关系。发现：跨界频率对深港居民的地方感具有显著的正向作用；跨界频率对个人和区域意义的感知均具有显著影响，对个人意义的感知影响是正向的，但对区域意义的感知影响却是负向的；地方感对边界的个人和区域意义感知均具有显著的正向影响。本文通过对深港边界居民的实证研究，深化了对跨界流动意义的理解，以期为深港一体化相关政策制定和实施提供依据和借鉴。     

Global policy paradigms,gender equality and everyday lives in Beijing,Hong Kong,Seoul and Taipei

Focusing on the interface between gender equality, the labour market, and everyday lives in four East Asian societies – China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan – this article seeks to articulate the spatial expression and multi-scalarity of global governance and policy paradigms. It will demonstrate that whilst regions, places and people are influenced by global processes and paradigms, these move and embed in different ways across spaces, time and scales. In this context, the article seeks to develop a more nuanced appreciation of ‘the social lives’ of global policy models, engaging with the role of ideas and institutions and the interactions of transnational, national and local dynamics in the shaping of gender equality policies and everyday experiences. Drawing on qualitative data collected in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei the article draws out the perceptions of individuals from different policy, sectoral, social and cultural settings of gender equality. It highlights the tensions and disjunctures between general principles and particular situations, and in embedding gender equality policies into the social imaginaries and everyday lives of women and men. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing the role of place and power relations in shaping localized responses to and experiences of gender justice.     

Gender and sexual geographies of Blackness: new Black cartographies of resistance and survival (part 2)

The articles in part 2 of the themed section Gender and Sexual Geographies of Blackness focus on the creation of new cartographies of resistance, struggle, and survival in which black gender and sexual minority communities are engaged. Using black feminist readings of gender, sexuality, and geography as a point of departure, we consider the complex challenges that black gender and sexual minorities pose to conventional feminists and queer readings of space. These articles map unexplored sites of black struggle, resistance, and survival where black gender and sexual minorities confront marginalization and create new spaces of sociality, community, desire, pleasure, support, and love.