The Umbrella Movement

This volume examines the most spectacular struggle for democracy in post-handover Hong Kong.

Ma Ngok :

Ngok Ma is Associate Professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong.Cheng Edmund W. :

Edmund W. Cheng is Associate Professor at the Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong.

"This edited volume lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the trajectory of protest movements in Hong Kong and its subsequent twists and turns in 2019. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Hong Kong’s political development and democracy movements as well as civil disobedience and contentious politics in general."
- Eva P. W. Hung, China Information, 34 (3)

"This concise and informative volume demonstrates that the roots of the 2019 escalation were already emerging in 2014“but it also shows how much Hong Kong has changed since then ... The authors deserve credit for pursuing their research despite the growing pressure on universities in Hong Kong to stamp out work that is critical of the Chinese Communist Party."
- Ben Bland, Pacific Affairs, Vol 93. No. 4 (2020)

"Ngok Ma and Edmund W. Cheng’s new edited volume, The Umbrella Movement, is a timely contribution for both disciplinary scholars of social protests and regional scholars of Hong Kong and China ... This book is an essential read for anyone interested in both social protest and East Asia, and is especially valuable for those studying Hong Kong and who want to understand the historical context behind the 2019 protests. No prior knowledge of the Umbrella Movement is needed to delve into this volume, but the reader will finish the book with enough knowledge to speak fluently about the protests across disciplines."
- Lev Nachman, Asian Journal of Social Science 48 (2020)

"While there have been quite a few books on the Umbrella Movement of 2014, this edited volume provides a wealth of additional empirical knowledge and is thus an essential read both for experts and for the general reader who is interested in Hong Kong’s political development and the democracy movement ... This volume is highly recommended ... It should not be omitted from the syllabi of courses on Hong Kong’s social and political development as well as contentious politics in general."
- Stephan Ortmann, The China Quarterly 2020

"Approaching the character and causes of the protests from various analytic perspectives and diverse methods, the authors shed new and provocative light on the Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong’s most important instance of popular civil resistance after 1997. This book will fascinate and inform anyone interested in popular social movements, not to mention the painful dilemmas of contemporary Hong Kong."
- Larry Diamond, Stanford University

"This exceptionally vivid, theoretically sophisticated volume provides a deep dive into the historical precedents, causes, evolution and ultimate demise of the 79-day Umbrella Movement that paralyzed Hong Kong in 2014. The contributors adopt a stunning variety of methods, data, on-the-spot observations, and disciplinary approaches to address important issues of contentious politics, social movements and hybrid regimes."
- Thomas B. Gold, University of California, Berkeley