Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Modern Approaches in Humanities and Social Sciences
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Hong Kong as a Critical Zone – A Transdisciplinary Approach towards Myriad Water Struggles in Colonial Hong Kong
Tse Sheung Hei and Shum Hou Zit
ABSTRACT:
Both the absence and excess of water cause problems in society. This paper addresses Hong Kong as a critical zone, proposed by Bruno Latour, and addresses its water struggles during the colonial period with both conventional and transdisciplinary methodologies. Hong Kong, located in Southern China, was a British colony between much of the 19th and 20th century. Constrained with few freshwater resources, the city was prone to water shortage. Conventional methodologies consist of textual analysis of primary and secondary sources. Transdisciplinary methodologies will be used to illustrate water adversary from a human lens, consisting of analyzing non-scientific knowledge like films, TV series, folklore and mythologies. This essay argues that there are four water struggles in colonial Hong Kong. Their management is key to colony-wide stability or the lack thereof. The British alleviated water shortage through hydro-infrastructure, internal policies, and Chinese imports. The dependence on Chinese water resulted in the second struggle, political dependency. Consequently, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, ending British colonial rule. The third struggle was against the sea. The colonial government reclaimed land from the sea to increase Hong Kong’s developmental capacity, leading to social disruption as a side effect. Last but not least, while the colonial government implemented short-term and long-term solutions with preventive maintenance works, Hong Kong citizens confronted flooding with religious ceremonies. This paper aims to serve as an introduction towards transdisciplinary research on water struggles which can also contribute by providing a new mindset to policymaking.
keywords: Hong Kong history, international relations, resilience, transdisciplinarity, water politics