Social Movements, Democracy Contraction, and Youth Advocacy in Hong Kong

Background: The summer of 2019 witnessed the Anti-extradition Law (Anti-ELAB) Movement, as millions protested a bill influencing Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy. The ensuing repercussions included thousands of protestors, particularly youth, facing arrests, followed by economic downturns and eroded trust in the government. In response, Beijing imposed the National Security Law (NSL) in July 2020 to curtail freedom in pursuit of security. Subsequent crackdowns on pro-democracy voices, including arrests and book censorship, underscored the law’s impact on civil liberties. The transformation of Hong Kong’s political landscape since 2019 presents a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of how changes in macro-environment, social movements and democratic contraction, influence youths' policy advocacy attitudes, competence, behaviors, and future orientation.

Methods: We conducted a four-wave quantitative survey (Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Summer 2020, and Spring 2022) to explore how political contexts influence young people’s advocacy tendencies. Initial surveys in 2018 assessed advocacy intentions and behaviors among Hong Kong university students before political events. Subsequent waves captured the impact of the Anti-ELAB Movement and the implementation of the NSL. We sent email invitations to all undergraduate students at the University of Hong Kong. A total of 1,480 respondents participated across the four waves. Online surveys were distributed via email to students aged 18-24, with some in-person distribution in earlier waves. Measures come from prior literature on social work policy advocacy education, including social issue awareness (Nilsson et al., 2011), political activities (Lane, Ostrander, & Smith, 2018), political efficacy (Niemi, Craig, & Mattei, 1991), advocacy competence (Kilbane et al., 2014), and future advocacy intentions (Kilbane et al., 2014). We employed multilevel models to examine changes over time, considering demographic and socioeconomic factors as controls.

Results: The results indicate that policy awareness increased by 0.33 standard deviations since the Anti-ELAB movement and persisted until after the passage and implementation of the NSL. However, although political activity participation (in both active and passive forms), political efficacy, and advocacy competence increased by 0.43 to 0.61 standard deviations since the Anti-ELAB Movement and lasted until the initial passage of the NSL, such an increase disappeared two years after the NSL passage. Meanwhile, the respondents' predictions of their likelihood to take future advocacy actions were reduced by 0.18 to 0.20 standard deviations nearly two years after the NSL passage.

Implications: Our study offers valuable insights into the evolving political engagement of young people in Hong Kong amidst shifting social and legislative landscapes. Unlike previous research that compared outcomes across different cohorts facing varied political events, we examine how youths’ advocacy intentions and behaviors evolve alongside social movements and political contraction over a relatively short period. By focusing on the same cohort of youths, we can better isolate the impacts of these contextual shifts. These findings contribute to a deeper theoretical understanding of how macro-environmental factors influence advocacy intention and participation. Furthermore, practitioners can leverage the sustained improvement in youths’ social issue awareness to engage them in advocacy opportunities addressing other social needs.