Mourning as Resistance: a Butlerian Perspective of the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Protests

Around the world, Christians displaying public mourning is not new, and yet Christians in Hong Kong created practices of mourning for the public amidst the 2019 Anti-Extradition Bill Protests to grieve the death of a college-age protestor. This article draws on a wide range of news media to examine how the public created the use of rituals and mourning practices and how the government attempted to discredit them. By employing Judith Butler’s conceptualization of grievability, this article also aims to emphasize the connection between public mourning and social justice. Public mourning is not only a spiritual experience of expressing sorrow and despair in front of God, but also a political act to affirm lives and denounce violence within civic society.