Legitimacy and Forced Democratisation in Social Movements: A Case Study of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong

Social movements are voluntary events whose participants have the right to leave whenever they disagree with their leaders. For this reason, the legitimacy of social movements is often perceived as inherent and thus of only secondary importance. This article aims to repudiate this view by demonstrat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:China perspectives 2017-01, Vol.2017 (3 (111)), p.7-16
Main Authors: KWOK, CHI, CHAN, NGAI KEUNG
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Civil disobedience
Collective action
Decision making
Democracy
Democratization
Direct democracy
Effectiveness
International relations
Leadership
Legitimacy
Legitimacy of governments
Methodology
Political aspects
Reforms
Social activism
Social movements
Society
Sociology
Umbrella Movement (event)
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Summary:Social movements are voluntary events whose participants have the right to leave whenever they disagree with their leaders. For this reason, the legitimacy of social movements is often perceived as inherent and thus of only secondary importance. This article aims to repudiate this view by demonstrating that legitimacy issues can impose constraints and have significant impacts on the relationships and decisions of the leaders of social movements. In the case of the Umbrella Movement, bottom-up legitimacy challenges to movement leaders' authority not only forced the leaders to reform their decision-making structure and even implement direct democracy, but also intensified the relationships among the leaders of different factions, ultimately undermining the leadership's overall effectiveness.
ISSN:2070-3449
1996-4617
DOI:10.4000/chinaperspectives.7375