“Leaderless but Organized”: Hong Kong’s Struggle, Digital Media, and Everyday Resistance against Authoritarian Capitalism - Dallas Smythe Lecture 2020

The recent social movement in Hong Kong is marked by its leaderless mode of mobilization and coordination, which would be impossible without innovative use of digital media. Why did such a mode of sociopolitical organization emerge? What are its features, limitations, and implications — for critical scholars and concerned citizens around the world, and for our collective social needs? In this lecture, Jack Qiu explores these questions with special attention to everyday resistance through cultural and economic citizenship practices against authoritarian capitalism, while revisiting Dallas Smythe’s vision of a socialist democratic communication system, immortalized through his legendary article: “After Bicycles, What?”.