In Search of a New Political Subjectivity in Hong Kong: The Umbrella Movement as a Street Theater of Generational Change

Shaped by a host of antecedent factors, the Umbrella Movement in 2014 gave rise to a new political consciousness in Hong Kong’s civil society. The term “Umbrella Generation” has been widely used in the wake of the political struggle. This article takes the movement as a pivotal case study of the formation of a new political generation through the intersection of sociodemographic, political, and cultural changes. This entailed not only antistate opposition by citizens of that generation but also a process of generational change mediated by various contending forces. Considering both inter- and intragenerational dynamics, this article integrates the insights of generational theory with a cultural analysis of discourse and dramaturgy—the umbrella protests as street theater—as well as a political analysis of agency, conflict, and leadership shifts.