Public opinion polls and covert colonialism in British Hong Kong

Bibliographic Data

ID7707925
AuthorsFlorence Mok (0000-0002-3577-5127, University of York, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume33
Issue1
Pages66-87
Publication date2019-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChina Information (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0920-203X • E-ISSN: 1741-590X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0920203x18787431
OpenAlexW2859166538
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited13

This article examines colonial statecraft and state–society relations in a pivotal period for Hong Kong. Using historical methods and archival evidence, it overcomes the limitations in existing research, which is often theoretically driven and reliant on published sources. The article reveals that the Hong Kong masses were made structurally invisible by the Movement of Opinion Direction (MOOD), a polling exercise introduced by the reformist colonial state. The public were unaware that their views were disseminated to policymakers and that they affected policy formulation: this was covert colonialism. The article investigates confidential MOOD reports generated by the Home Affairs Department from 1975 to 1980, demonstrating why and how the colonial administration constructed public opinion. By disclosing what these secret files reveal about changing public attitudes towards the colonial government, the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the article also provides new insights into public receptions of the state’s reforms and potential threats to the colonial regime in the 1970s

China · Colonialism · Covert · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Sociology · State (computer science · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Public Administration

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