Constructing a decolonized world city for consumption : Discourses on Hong Kong Disneyland and their implications

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The paper argues that, under the globalized economy, state power is far from diminishing. I study how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government officials in 1999 developed "competition-development" discourse and "disappearing-world-city" discourse to persuade the public to approve the unequal and non-transparent Hong Kong-Disney deal for setting up the Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL). I also examine how newspaper reports have circulated and have reinforced these two pairs of political discourses in wider popular discourse. I further reveal, in the post-colonial context of Hong Kong, how the HKDL project functions to accomplish decolonization tasks and to reshape Hong Kong as a consumption-based tourist spot instead of a citizen-based participatory community.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)573-592
Number of pages20
JournalSocial Semiotics
Volume20
Issue number5
Early online date20 Nov 2010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • City politics
  • Cultural studies
  • Discourse
  • Globalization
  • Hong kong
  • Hong kong disneyland
  • Urban development

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