Politics and PTSD
The case of Hong Kong BN(O) visa arrivals in the UK
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2248084 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark Chih‐wei Liang (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 4-8 |
| Publication date | 2022-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0268-540X • E-ISSN: 1467-8322 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-8322.12751 |
| OpenAlex | W4298395450 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article adopts an ethnographic perspective to present the mental health situation of arrivals from Hong Kong (HK) to the UK on the British National (Overseas) - BN(O) - visa. In the months after the 2019-2020 HK protests, Western and Chinese media announced the onset of a mental health crisis. I discuss the construction of this crisis in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disaster mental health, which translate the role of trauma from the clinical sphere into a marker of a moral economy. I also argue that the UK and the People's Republic of China classify populations according to ontological structures of distress for political gain. In this way, they participate in 'damage-centred' research, which regards BN(O) visa holders in the UK as victims without agency and subject to global players. By taking an anthropological stance on the debates surrounding this nascent immigrant group, I assert that PTSD is always political and that mental health integrates itself into larger goals Hongkongers have regarding their future educational, housing and employment prospects in the UK
China · Criminology · Distress · Ethnography · Mental distress · Mental health · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Social science · Sociology · Traumatic stress · Anthropology · Clinical Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |