Risk, Reflexivity and Sub-politics: Environmental Politics in Hong Kong

Risk, Reflexivity and Sub-politics:Environmental Politics in Hong KongRaymond K.H. Chan

Increasing attention has been drawn to the risk posed by air pollution, a risk that has

wide-ranging effects (on the environment, health, the economy, culture, urban design

and politics). New environmental movements and political agendas have emerged in the

past 10 years. A growing number of social groups have been formed to express their

concerns and challenge established laws and rules. This paper will borrow Ulrich Beck’s

concepts of risk, reflexivity and sub-politics to analyse the new social movement that

addresses air quality in Hong Kong. While previous environmental problems were

considered manageable, air pollution is a risk that seems to defy solution. As a result of

the institutional failure to deal with this risk, there has been a new alignment of interests

and the emergence of a new form of politics*a sub-politics that leads to a sharing of

power between established and informal politics, and the government and society.

Although established political institutions have been receptive, altering the rules and

increasing public participation, the extent of sub-politicization is still limited. This is due,

in part, to the overall absence of reflexive self-regulation among individuals in the

society, which might lead to a state of ‘disorganized irresponsibility’.

Keywords: Risk; Environment; Reflexivity; Hong Kong; Sub-politics; New Social

Movement

Environmental Threats: Risk Society and Risk Politics

‘Risk society’, in Beck’s (1992) construction, refers to a specific set of social,

economic, political and cultural conditions that are transformed by manufactured

uncertainty so that they become more complex, contingent and fragmented. The

resultant social condition Beck calls ‘reflexive modernity’ is different from the simple

modernity of industrial society. Its foundation is the inescapable ‘self-confrontation’

that accompanies the contemporary industrial way of life (Beck, 1994). Scott (2000)

Raymond K.H. Chan, PhD, is Associate Professor, Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of

Hong Kong. Correspondence to: Raymond K.H. Chan, Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of

Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 0218-5377 (print)/ISSN 1750-7812 (online) # 2008 Asian Journal of Political Science

DOI: 10.1080/02185370802504308

Asian Journal of Political Science

Vol. 16, No. 3, December 2008, pp. 260�275

identifies the axial principle of industrial society as the distribution of scarce goods

(wealth), while that of the risk society is the distribution of ‘bads’ (risk). Industrial

society is structured according to various collectives (e.g., families, classes and

groups) and traditions, while risk society is characterized by individualization plus

reflexivity (Scott, 2000).

Beck does not consider realism and constructivism to be mutually exclusive

attitudes towards risk, but he argues that the decision to follow a certain course is a

‘rather pragmatic one, a matter of choosing the appropriate means for a desired goal’

(Beck, 2000: 211). He points out: ‘Risks are at the same time ‘‘real’’ and constituted by

social perception and construction’ because the perception (of risk) is ‘always and

necessarily contextual and locally constituted’ (Beck, 2000: 219). That is, ‘Risks are

real social hazards . . .whilst at the same time, risks are particularly open to social

definition and construction’ (Beck, 1992: 23).

Risks cannot be understood outside their particular contexts, be it scientific,

political, economic or popular. Arguments among experts on the nature of risk are

based on different interpretations of scientific discoveries. These debates seek to

define risk, claiming its legitimacy (hegemony) based on particular forms of expertise

and knowledge, and to command the risk response system in the name of pursuing

welfare for all (Beck, 1992).

The definition of risk (its extent, intensity and urgency) is obviously critical to risk

politics. Risk management usually entails the reorganization of power and

responsibility. The emergence of a new definition and agenda will, unavoidably,

destroy the current equilibrium and lead to a new reconfiguration of interests and

networks (Beck, 1992). Beck (1994: 18) observes: ‘Those decision-making areas which

had been protected by the political in industrial capitalism*the private sector,

business, science, towns, everyday life and so on*are caught in the storms of political

conflicts in reflexive modernity’.

There are four key features of risk politics in a period of reflexive modernity. The

first is ‘individualization’, which means ‘first, the disembedding and, second, the re-

embedding of industrial society ways of life by new ones, in which the individuals

must produce, stage and cobble together their biographies themselves’ (Beck, 1994:

13). Such individualization is not identical to entirely free self-definition: the

individual is still subject to overall conditions. Yet, the standard biography becomes a

‘reflexive biography’, in which individual actions and choices are perceived as much

more open-ended than they are according to the functionalist role model. Beck

maintains that risk politics mixes and combines the classical poles of politics and

nullifies the division between the traditional cleavage of left and right, conservative

and socialist, etc. (Beck, 1994).

The second feature, ‘sub-politics’, involves shaping society from below. Beck (1994:

22) argues:

Sub-politics is distinguished from politics first, in that, agents outside the politicalor corporatist system are allowed to appear on the stage of social design (thisgroups include professional and occupational groups, the technical intelligentsia in

Asian Journal of Political Science 261

plants, research institutions and management, skilled workers, citizens’ initiatives

. . .), and second, in that not only social and collective agents but individuals as wellcompete with the latter and each other for the emerging shaping power of the

political.

Conventional politics and institutions are geared to production and accumulation.

They are unable to cope with the emerging risks, and their efforts to satisfy the new

demands for participation are doomed to failure (Beck, 1997; Matten, 2004). The

new politics is based on the ‘de-monopolization of expertise’ and ‘informalization of

jurisdiction’, which require the political system to be more participatory: the

decision-making and negotiation process must be open to public dialogue and

debate. This will decrease the emphasis and dominance of the centralized rule-

making system, which is usually that of the government. Sub-politics entails a change

of emphasis from the rule-directed formal system to rule-altering politics, which

relies on more open networks constituted among state, civil society and market

(Beck, 1994). As influenced by individualization, it is very likely that these new forces

from below will tend to be disorganized and uncoordinated, or even competing with

each others for the meanings, claims and actions.

The definition of meanings and strategies will become the subject of discussion

between representatives of established politics and informal politics. Beck does not

maintain that the state and established political processes have completely lost their

relevance. Instead, he argues that the traditional political systems that manage to

retain power and influence are usually those that enter into coalitions with sub-

political institutions and actors to define terms, explanations and strategies (Beck,

1995; Bulkeley, 2001).

The third feature of risk politics stems from the relationship between science and

politics. Beck pays special attention to the scientization of environmental problems,

which results in the ‘politicization of science’ and ‘scientization of politics’. Nature has

become a social and political issue. ‘Nature’ represents a potential utopia that must be

reconstructed, shaped and transformed. Internal dissension among experts using

different scientific explanations will lead to the ‘de-monopolization of expertise’ and

reflexive regulation, opening the process to debate (Beck, 1994, 1998; Bulkeley, 2001).

A new process of controlling the regulatory process � ‘reflexive regulation’ � is

another key feature of risk politics. Reflexive regulation takes the responsibility from

the government and transfers it to the community. A wide range of agents are

involved in determining the ways of implementing, realizing and monitoring

strategies. Reflexive regulation can be formal (e.g., privatized regulation, sentencing

guidelines and voluntary agreements) or informal (e.g., codes of conducts) (Matten,

2004).

Beck (2000: 224�225) suggests four questions that arise in the context of risk

politics:

1. Who is to define and determine the harmfulness of products, the dangers, the risks

and the responsibilities?

262 R. K. H. Chan

2. What kind of knowledge, with accompanying evidence, about the causes,

dimensions, actors, etc., is provided?

3. What is to count as sufficient proof in a world where knowledge about

environmental risks is necessarily hypothetical and controversial?

4. Who is to decide on compensation for the afflicted and determine what

constitutes appropriate damage-limiting controls and regulations?

Risk Politics and the New Social Movement

The environmental movement is considered as a key example of the new social

movement (NSM), which addresses the destructive impact of industrialization on

nature (reflecting the ‘reflexive’ phase of modernity, which is aware of the dark side of

industrialization) (Sutton, 2000: 76). The emergence of the NSM is a result of

structural changes, which have engendered post-material values. In post-industrial

society, the capital/labour conflict has been marginalized, and a variety of non-class

issues and corresponding movements have emerged (Sutton, 2000: 168�169). Ronald

Inglehart’s notion of post-material values is based on the view that, in a ‘post-scarcity

society’, people are less oriented towards materialistic and acquisitive lifestyles and

attach greater importance to spirituality, aesthetics, political and social rights, and

quality of life (Cudworth, 2003).

The new set of values is antagonistic to the expansion of conspicuous consumption

in industrial/modern society. The environmental movement is, on the whole, critical

of the ‘economic development at all cost mentality’, which sacrifices the claims of the

environment. Individuals participating in the movement search for alternative ways

of living. The NSM forces society to confront previously unseen problems and, hence,

serves a ‘prophetic function’ (Sutton, 2000). The movement challenges the

administrative logic of complex systems, though it does not necessarily adopt a

revolutionary stance. It operates, at least partly, outside the existing political

institutions, using its own informal networks (Doherty, 2002).

The NSM, which is supported by environmental movement organizations (EMOs),

shares at least three characteristics with risk politics. First, it is critical, as a result of

increasing reflexivity and individualization, of conventional politics and maintains

that politicians are not genuinely concerned about environmental problems.

Government and politicians must be subjected to pressure and adapt to new

circumstances. Second, although members of the NSM distance themselves from the

political system, they are not entirely disengaged: they maintain an arm’s length

connection. Third, the EMOs are a dispersed and fragmented network of small to

medium-sized informal groups or formal organizations, which echoes the feature of

individualization (Foyle and McEachern, 2001). These are characteristics of

sub-politics. Given their internal diversity and fragmentation, it is not surprising

that ideologies propounded by EMOs are diverse and even contradictory. The deep

Green, ecological modernization, eco-socialism, social ecology, green conservatism


and eco-feminism all have different agendas and are competing for legitimacy (Cahill,

2002; Fitzpatrick and Cahill, 2002).

The strategies adopted by an EMO depend on its resources and the resources it can

mobilize to legitimize its claims. Hannigan (1995) cites the following common

strategies: the use of scientific authority to challenge or validate claims (which reflect

the ‘politicization of science’ and ‘scientization of politics’) and the popularization of

issues in order to make a scientific point more accessible, attracting media attention

by framing the problem as novel and important, and dramatization of the problem in

symbolic and visual terms.

In sum, modernization in industrial society is a self-(creative-) destructive process

that generates counter-modernistic values and politics. Individuals seek an alter-

native; they want the opportunity to write their own biography. The NSM offers an

alternative. Loosely coordinated EMOs have been formed. Their major objectives are

to legitimize their own claims and to shape definitions and policies. Though they are

not interested in direct participation in politics, their presence has reconfigured the

political system, forcing it to become more open, transparent and participatory.

Environmental Politics and EMOs in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has experienced a booming economy for decades, but, during this period,

the environment has suffered. A growing number of people have become aware of

environmental issues and are calling for remedial actions. The first EMO in Hong

Kong, the Conservancy Association, was established in 1968, but it was not until the

1980s that it, together with other EMOs, received public attention. The first wave of

EMOs was either local chapters of international organizations or established by

concerned local community members. None of these organizations adopt a radical

deep Green, eco-socialist or eco-feminist perspective.

Individual EMOs prefer to work on their own projects, as they have different

orientations and definitions of risks (Lai, 2000: 277). Most believe that it is possible to

strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development. The

main theme of the environmental movements in the 1980s was to make the public

aware of the problems brought about by modern ways of living and continuous

unrestricted economic development. The strategies they devised were mild and

consensual: public education, mass campaigning, lobbying the government to revise

the regulations on production, demonstrating the benefit of preserving the

environment (for example, the wetlands and country parks), encouraging the

adoption of the 3-Rs (i.e., reduce, reuse and recycle) and supporting environmentally

friendly production technology. The movements received most of their support from

middle-class citizens, who were more likely to consider the relationship between

human beings and nature as a defining quality of life.

Though the popularity of these movements grew, people were still reluctant to self-

regulate their lifestyles. They recognized environmental problems, but they

considered them less important than the need to preserve prosperity or encourage

264 R. K. H. Chan

further democratization. Pollution is a problem, but it is not at the top of the agenda.

It is just one of many competing claims for public interest and political action.1

Before the mid-1970s, the government had no environmental policy, and there was

no designated government agency responsible for monitoring the environment and

implementing environmental legislation (Chiu et al., 1999: 69). It was not, however,

entirely indifferent to environmental issues (e.g., the Clean Air Ordinance for

controlling fuel combustion emissions was enacted in 1959). In 1977, the

Environmental Protection Unit was established. It became an Agency in 1986 and

was upgraded to a Department in 1986.

In 1983, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance replaced the Clean Air Ordinance

and expanded the scope of its responsibilities. The Hong Kong government studied

methods of collecting basic data for air quality. Currently, the ordinance controls

emissions from power plants, industrial and commercial sources, construction

activities, open burning, asbestos, petrol filling stations and dry-cleaning machines.

The Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) regulate seven major air pollutants.2 The

Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) was established in 1990 to promote

public awareness of environmental issues and encourage the public to work actively

towards a better environment.

In 1989, the government issued the ‘White Paper*Pollution in Hong Kong: A

Time to Act’. Since then, the government has conducted periodic reviews of its

environmental protection initiatives. In order to emphasize the need for public

awareness and participation to improve the environment, the government has

adopted the notion of collective responsibility and has implemented a ‘polluter pays’

principle (e.g., sewage fees and electronic road pricing systems), but these measures

have been strongly rejected by the public.

Until the late 1990s, the government’s strategy was to control the emissions of

seven major pollutants from local and street-level sources (e.g., vehicles, power plants,

and industrial, and commercial processes). Controlling emissions from these sources

was believed to be effective in improving the air quality. In 1990, the government

banned the use of high-sulphur fuel.

In the process, this earlier stage EMOs were gradually absorbed, intended or

unintended, into the conventional established politics. Representatives of EMOs were

regularly consulted or appointed to governmental committees*typical adminis-

trative absorption strategies adopted by the government as a way of managing societal

pressure (Chiu et al., 1999). These measures also established a formal institutional

framework for limited public participation in the form of consultation, lobbying and

exerting influence, while allowing environmental issues to be heavily controlled by

the technocrats in the environmental protection unit and bureaucrats in other

government units.

At this stage, air pollution was just one of many environmental problems: ‘Hong

Kong has not yet developed a dynamic environmental movement capable of

mobilizing broad-based public support, exerting significant influence on public

policy, and forging a transformation in popular environmental consciousness’ (Chiu


et al., 1999: 56�57). The lack of network linking grassroots protest groups and EMOs

was the result of various factors. First, most of the EMOs were headed by people with

middle-class professional backgrounds, who were not experienced in mass mobiliza-

tion. Second, the leaders believed that the public was apathetic and uninterested in

the green movement, and, as a result, they adopted a consensual approach, which

reinforced the government’s absorption strategies. Third, the leaders were contented

with the progress achieved through this consensual approach and were, therefore, not

inclined to pursue more radical measures (Chiu et al., 1999; Lai, 2000).

These pessimistic perceptions were supported by objective evidence. In a 1992

survey, it was found that the environmental consciousness of the people of Hong

Kong was the poorest among 14 cities. Another survey in the mid-1990s found that

Hong Kong’s interest in environmental protection was the lowest among 40 countries

or regions in the world. Environmental consciousness and the willingness to adopt a

green lifestyle were still lacking among older, less-educated and lower-income groups

(Chiu et al., 1999: 73). Others studies produced similar findings (Wong et al., 1994;

Wong and Yan, 1996; Lee, 1997; ECC, 1998). In the late 1990s, environmental policies

were still largely defined by the government. The EMOs were more or less absorbed

into established political processes.

After the Late 1990s: The Air Pollution Campaign and New Environmental Politics

Since the late 1990s, two developments have occurred that have had a strong effect on

Hong Kong’s environmental politics. First, environmental issues have ceased to be

local issues and become regional issues as a result of developments in the Pearl River

Delta (PRD). Beginning in the early 1980s, most of Hong Kong’s factories closed

down or moved to the PRD. In the early stages of this process, the relocation of local

manufacturing industries helped to reduce the local emissions of pollutants, resulting

in an improvement to local air quality. The problems had been exported. However,

the rapid industrialization of the nearby PRD, which is subject to fewer controls and

restrictions, has damaged the environmental quality to such an extent that the

problem has been ‘re-exported’ back to Hong Kong. A recent study in 2007 by Lau

et al. (2007) found that the pollutants from the PRD affect Hong Kong’s air quality

mainly in winter-time, while local sources play a greater role in summer. The study

concluded that regional sources are the primary influence on Hong Kong’s air quality

for 132 days a year (i.e., 36 per cent), and local sources, for 192 days (i.e., 53 per cent).

This regionalization of the issue has resulted in a new political platform for current

EMOs.

Another significant development affecting environmental politics is the increasing

demand for a more transparent government, with greater citizen participation, as a

result of declining trust on conventional established politics, dominated by the

bureaucrats and technocrats. The public is no longer content with the administrative

absorption and consultative politics, which gave the government the legitimacy to

include or exclude certain interest groups and their agendas. The tide turned as a

266 R. K. H. Chan

result of the successive failures of the Hong Kong government to manage the

economy, the SARS epidemic and the controversy surrounding legislation of ‘Article

23’. The Hong Kong government has been forced to adopt a more responsive and

proactive type of governance.

The risk politics of the environmental movement has also undergone a gradual

change. Since the late 1990s, new EMOs have taken a more active and confrontational

approach, and have forged closer ties with the public, mediated through the media.

An increasing number of EMOs concerned solely with air pollution have been

formed. In addition to demanding better air quality, they also called for a more

responsive and transparent government, with greater citizen participation. These new

organizations are never the allies of the government, and they do not run the risk of

being ‘absorbed’ into the established political structure (see Table 1). They are more

apt to protest and take legal action against the government, whereas the mild EMOs

tend to take an educational and consensual approach.

Construction of Air Pollution as an Inescapable Risk to All

One of the major tasks of the EMOs is to establish the claim that air pollution

constitutes a critical risk in Hong Kong. While admitting the seriousness of air

pollution, the government maintains that pollution emissions, with the exception of

sulphur dioxide, have been reduced since the early 1990s. Efforts have been made to

tackle regional air pollution problem. However, other scientific data show that Hong

Kong is suffering from worsening visibility in recent years: periods of poor visibility

(i.e., visibility less than 8 km with relative humidity not exceeding 80 per cent) rose

from 4 per cent to 20 per cent in the period between 1992 and 2005.

More importantly, air pollution has been presented as a matter of ‘life and

death’ that affects all members of the population, class and wealth notwithstand-

ing. Risk awareness and health consciousness has increased in the past few years,

especially after the SARS epidemic in 2003, which had a death toll of 299. Major

local newspapers have special columns on health news and healthy lifestyles.

EMOs and experts have shown the public, by means of scientific data, that

pollutants contribute to, or are responsible for, various diseases. For example, a

special task force under the authority of the Medical Council of Hong Kong has

issued a warning that air pollution has caused increasing Upper Respiratory Tract

Infections (URTIs) in recent years (Mingpao, 2005a).

A study conducted by the School of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong

Kong indicated that for each increase of 10ug of pollutants, 2�3 per cent more

patients will seek medical help (Mingpao, 2006b). A 2004 study by the Environmental

Protection Department found that with each increase of 10 ug/m3 in the

concentration of the four major pollutants, the incidence of respiratory, chronic

pulmonary and cardiovascular heart diseases rose by between 0.2 to 3.9 per cent

(Council for Sustainable Development, 2006: 32). The Department of Community

Medicine at Hong Kong University estimates that the total cost of poor air quality is


Table 1 Environmental Movement Organizations (EMOs) in Hong Kong

EMOs Dateestablished

Focus Levelof activity

The ConservancyAssociation

1968 Environmental protectionand conservation

Promotion of green lifestyleEducation and advocacy

Mild to moderate

World Wildlife FundHong Kong

1981 Environmental conservationand education

Mild

Friends of the Earth(HK)

1983 Environmental conservationand education

Promotion of green lifestyleAdvocacy

Mild to moderate

Green Power 1988 Environmental education,watchdog

Advocacy

Mild to moderate

Produce GreenFoundation

1988 Promotion of organicfarming and green lifestyle

Mild

Green Student Council 1993 Environmental protection(the 3 Rs)

Advocacy

Mild to moderate

Greenpeace 1997 Environmental preservationand protection

Advocacy

Moderate toradical

Clean the Air 1997 Committed to the introductionand implementation ofmeasures to significantlyreduce air pollution inHong Kong

Education, advocacy

Moderate

Green Sense 2004 Research and monitoringto prevent non-environmentally friendlypractices and urban design insociety

Education and advocacy

Moderate toradical

Tamar TenderWatchdog

2006 Promotion of measures to keepthe wind blowing at Tamarand stop yet another urbancanyon from blocking thewind

Moderate

Lights Out Hong Kong 2006 Promotion of awareness of airpollution through thesymbolic action of turningoff the lights at 8 p.m. on8/8/2006

Advocacy

Moderate

Air QualityObjectivesConcern Group

2006 Advocacy of the adoptionthe WHO 2006 Air QualityObjectives in Hong Kong

Moderate

Air Monitor 2006 Concerned with air quality andpollution

Environmental education

Mild

Clean AirFoundation

2007 Legal action Moderate

268 R. K. H. Chan

2,800 deaths, 90,000 hospital admissions, and 10 million doctor’s appointments each

year (Mingpao, 2006e).

Civic Exchange, in collaboration with scientists from three local universities,

released a report showing that if the air quality in Hong Kong were ‘good’, the

number of deaths would be reduced by 1,600, hospital days by 64,000 and doctor’s

appointments for respiratory system illnesses by 6.8 million per year. Improving air

quality would also save 1.5 billion in health expenses, HK$ 500 million in

productivity lost and 19 billion in other costs per year (Mingpao, 2006f). Scientists

have gained the public’s attention and have communicated a simple but powerful

message: air pollution is a real risk to individuals and can cost them their lives. This

message has finally been mass marketed. The use of science and scientific data is a

characteristic in this stage reflecting the scientization of politics. For example, in

debating the standard adopted for measuring the AQOs, scientists from the Civic

Exchange’s group and the government were debating on the validity and

appropriateness of different standards. The end result can be the politicization of

science.

New Players, New Politics

In recent years, the business sector (at least the major organizations) has played a

more active role in supporting environmental awareness and pressuring the

government. Previously, businesses’ support for environmental education was shown

by sponsoring EMOs. The Hong Kong Business Coalition on the Environment was

established in 2004, initiated by three chambers of commerce. The membership has

since expanded to cover 33 of the most influential business associations and

professional bodies in Hong Kong, including foreign chambers of commerce and

foreign residents. The coalition aims to promote greater environmental awareness,

responsibility and performance in the business community (a form of reflexive self-

regulation) and to encourage government actions and policy changes that will result

in an improved environment for Hong Kong.

In 2006 a study conducted by an international employment consultancy firm

indicated that air pollution, among other factors, had reduced Hong Kong’s

attractiveness to Asian employees (Mingpao, 2006d). A similar observation was

made in the IMF’s report released in early 2007 (Mingpao, 2007). This issue was

raised and discussed at a meeting of the government’s Commission on Strategic

Development (the top-level think tank for the Chief Executive of HKSAR) (Mingpao,

2006c). Later, the Chief Executive, Mr. Donald Tsang, openly admitted that poor air

quality affects the local tourist industry and foreign investment. The business sector’s

participation in this sub-political movement has given a strong signal to the

government that air pollution is a real concern. ‘Money matters’, and a good

environment for business personnel and their families are crucial for this capitalist

city. Business is one sector that the government cannot neglect.


Symbolic Strategies � Popularize the Sense of Risk through Media

Several new EMOs dedicated to improving air quality are more progressive and more

ready to confront the government than their predecessors. In this new context,

fighting against poor air quality means, symbolically, fighting for health and for Hong

Kong’s prosperity. To popularize this sense of risk and their definition of the problem,

these EMOs have effectively mobilized the media.

The local media has devoted considerable coverage to disgraceful and embarrassing

events related to poor air quality: the French air-force performance in Hong Kong

was hampered by poor visibility in 20 October 2004; the opening date of Hong Kong

Disneyland (12 September 2005) was in one of the highest API days on record;

Pavarotti expressed his personal disappointment with the hazy skyline in Hong Kong

during his farewell tour; and, during the 10th Hong Kong Marathon on 12 February

2006, with an API of 149, 22 runners were hospitalized*two were in critical

condition and one died days later (Mingpao, 2006a).

Complicated scientific data and figures have been reduced to one simple

question*‘Where is the blue sky that we have used to have?’*which resonates

with the public. It is not surprising that the government has adopted this symbol and

has named its official campaign ‘Action Blue Sky’ in 2006.

Expanded Coalition in Sub-politics

The causes of poor air quality have been framed as a result of broader issues, such as

urban planning and landscape. Urban planning and landscape have also been the

target of groups intent on protecting Hong Kong’s cultural heritage. For air quality

lobbyists, the main issue is the ‘canyon effect’ created when high-rise buildings along

busy streets form a ‘canyon’ that traps pollutants in a narrow and congested urban

space. The canyon effect is caused by ill-advised urban planning and architectural

design. This is particularly true along Hong Kong’s seafront, where wall-like high-rise

buildings block the wind blowing from the sea, which would have reduced air

pollution. Several successful campaigns have been organized to stop unrestricted

high-rise construction and reclamation projects (e.g., in Victoria Harbour, Tamar,

Kowloon West, Shamshuipo, Tsuen Wan, Shatin and Kam Tin).

The preservation of cultural heritage also has strong proponents, who have

campaigned to protect the harbour coastline. The movement claims that the coastline

embodies the Hong Kong people’s ‘collective memory’, and the government should

not destroy it for merely economic considerations. The same attitude is evident in

other efforts to protect heritage buildings (e.g., the Star Ferry Pier Clock Tower).

There is a common ground between these two social movements. Although they

are not in close contact and do not participate in concerted efforts, they are linked

symbolically. The connection is not strong; however, it is based on a common

vision*a sense of what Hong Kong should look like and avoiding the air pollution

that is caused by poor urban design and landscape, claimed and shared by both

movements. The concerns and controversies raised by both groups have stimulated

270 R. K. H. Chan

wider public concern and discussion, and have generated a public opinion that the

government cannot ignore.

The EMOs and their networks with businesses are keeping a distance from

government, though they share a common agenda. Some of the new EMOs continue

to be led by middle-class professionals, but they are not willing to become a part of

the political campaign. A growing number of idealistic and reflexive youth are

participating in the new EMOs. Given the limited participation afforded by

government, new EMOs prefer their own methods of direct participation and choose

to confront the government, rather than work with it, on air pollution issues.

They have successfully established their claim: air pollution is now the top priority

in government’s agenda. The government is committed to tackling regional as well as

local sources of pollution, and modifying the urban design and land/plot ratio to

minimize wall-like high-rise buildings and hence reducing the canyon effect. Even

though the scientific data gathered from the EMOs’ surveys are not that rigorous, the

government has to listen and respond due to the legitimacy of their claims. Dialogues,

beyond the existing formal politics, between the government and the new EMOs have

been initiated. Rules and values, previously adopted by the government and the

formal politics, have been partially altered by these new form sub-politics.

Re-examination of Risk Politics

As Beck observes, modernization contains seeds of its own destruction and

generates counter-modernistic values and politics. The modernization and

industrialization process in Hong Kong has led to a variety of environmental

problems. The emergence of a new middle class who have a renewed appreciation

of the value of nature has led to an NSM focused on environmental protection.

Since the late 1990s, environmentally aware individuals and groups have felt that

they are not adequately represented by the existing EMOs and that their concerns

have not been addressed by the government. They have formed new EMOs and

serve as the ‘conscience constituents’, using their expertise in scientific and legal

matters, their resources (both financial and social) and media manipulation to

create a new type of risk politics.

Compared to the earlier stage mild EMOs, the new EMOs demand a more

responsive and more proactive government, and a more democratic process than the

current bureaucratic system. However, like earlier EMOs, they do not seek direct

control of the government by forming a political party. They are not planning to

follow the model of Green Party. They have symbolic alliances with other NSM, but

their connections remain informal and uncoordinated (see Table 2).

While it is valid to argue that concern about the environment is mostly expressed

at the sub-political level though with more frequent contacts between formal and

informal politics, the policy process remains the domain of government. The

limitations of this process of sub-politicization can be explained by the complexities

that arise from the fact that air pollution is a regional issue. Since it is a problem that


crosses borders, it requires a new set of policies to foster concrete and collaborative

efforts between Hong Kong and the PRD, areas that have very different views on

environmental protection and economic development. This collaborative effort is

beyond the capacity of local EMOs and has to be dealt with by the government, in

formal politics set up by the governments.

It is only the government that possesses the power to negotiate with the nearby

governments and the resources to implement actions. Under this constraint, the

‘ideal’ outcome of sub-politicization is not to take over the government’s power by

means of direct participation in the administration, but to find a way to share power

between the government and society, and to effect an increased interaction between

the formal and informal political systems.

The mobilization of the individuals, in terms of their reflexive self-regulation, is

still limited. In 2006, ‘Project CLEAN AIR’ was initiated by the Hong Kong Business

Coalition on the Environment and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce,

Table 2 Risk Politics before and after the Late 1990s

Items Before the late 1990s After the late 1990s

Major problems Environmental preservationand protection

Similar, but the air quality issuebecomes paramount

Intensity and extentof risk

Affecting our quality of life Affecting our health, economy andimage

Who is responsible? Local sources(vehicle and power plants)

Regional sources (including companiesestablished by HK investors innearby PRD), plus local sources,primarily power plants

Who are thevictims?

According to the EMO,‘all’ people

Generally believed to be ‘all’ people

EMOs Broad issue-based More small and action-oriented butuncoordinated concern groupsspecializing in air quality issues

Players EMOs*the middle classGovernment

EMOs*the middle class andreflexive individuals who form newsmall-sized organizations

Business sector(local and overseas)

Symbolic alliance with other NSMconcerning issues of urban design/planning, cultural heritage/collective memory

Strategies Consensual, collaborative,educational

More frequent use of confrontationaland legal action (e.g., judicialreviews), plus effective use ofsymbolic acts through media

Claims Protecting the environmentAdopting a green lifestyle

Similar in environmental goals.Critical on bureaucrat, technocrat,

interpretation of ‘science’ andconventional politics

Demand for a more open andparticipatory governing process

272 R. K. H. Chan

and supported by the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council, the China Council

for the Promotion of International Trade�Guangdong Sub-Council, and the

Guangdong Association of Environmental Protection Industry to encourage Hong

Kong and Guangdong companies to support and implement the Clean Air Charter

on a voluntary basis. The charter requires participants to monitor their own

emissions, report the results and adopt appropriate preventive measures. However,

the response has not been satisfactory: less than 600 companies and organizations

have participated (including only 32 from the PRD).

Individuals are still reluctant to abandon certain aspects of their lifestyle. It is

generally true that Hong Kong people have a better understanding of air pollution

and are dismayed by the hazy sky. Air pollution has also been established as a major

issue. A study in 2004 confirmed that nearly half (48 per cent) of Hong Kong

residents agreed or strongly agreed that environmental protection was more

important than economic development, while 37 per cent considered that the two

were equally important. Only a small proportion (19 per cent) agreed or strongly

agreed that material life was more important than spiritual life (Policy 21 Ltd. and

Centre for Civil Society and Governance, 2005: 23). However, these opinions have not

been reflected by proportionate reflexive-regulation of self in lifestyle choices.

Environmentally friendly technology and products are available, but people are still

hesitant to pay the extra cost. For example, there is no clear consensus that drivers

should turn off idling engines, and owners of older models of trucks want more

subsidies from the government to meet the latest emission standard for switching to

new models of vehicle. A report by the Council for Sustainable Development (2006)

estimates that the cost to clear up Hong Kong’s hazy sky (through exercising tighter

controls and standards in power plant, transportation, industrial and commercial

sectors) is HK$ 51 billion, and it poses a simple question: ‘Are we ready to pay?’.

In a 2004 survey, 96 per cent of the respondents stated that air pollution had

affected their health, and 91 per cent believed that improving the quality of the

environment is the responsibility of every citizen. However, only 56 per cent agreed to

equip power plants with additional emission filtering devices if consumers have to

pay for them (Mingpao, 2005b). The latest example was the consumers’ rejection of

charging them for having plastic bags from a local chained supermarket in late 2007.

Though people theoretically support the effort to tackle air pollution, in practice,

some are still unprepared to accept the responsibility of doing so. The risk definition

has been successfully popularized in Hong Kong but, unfortunately, not the attendant

responsibilities.

Such limited extent of reflexive self-regulation, changing the values and behaviour,

and committing to green life-style explained, partially, the limited local environ-

mental movement achievement and its capacity of social mobilization. If these

persisted, the trend could be moving from ‘organized irresponsibility’ (i.e.,

government negligence) to ‘disorganized irresponsibility’ (i.e., attempts to offload

responsibility on the part of both the individual and the state, in the process of


debating the risk responsibilities). This situation will only add to the difficulties of

addressing environmental problems.

Notes

[1] For example, the survey by Wong and Man (2000) of the 1998 Legislative Council election

candidates showed that they believed that a green political platform would not garner more

votes and that they were not interested in this policy platform.

[2] These are sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO),

photochemical oxidants, lead, total suspended particulates (TSP) and respirable suspended

particulates (RSP). These readings are calculated and collated as Air Pollution Indexes

(APIs). The air in areas recording API readings of over 100 is generally regarded as

potentially injurious to health.

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Documents

Risk, Reflexivity and Sub-politics: Environmental Politics in Hong Kong