“A fine and welcomed collection that sheds new lights on two iconic popular movements in contemporary Asia. Capturing the Sunflower and Umbrella Movements’ organization dynamics, expressive politics and political outcomes in granular details, this volume advances a much needed comparative agenda for social movement studies.”—Ching Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles
“This volume showcases fascinating new work by an engaging mix of established and junior scholars of the social sciences and humanities. The book opens with an exemplary introduction by the editors and is especially good at highlighting the expressive and symbolic sides of struggles for change. Sunflowers and Umbrellas shows how valuable it can be to place the 2014 events in Taiwan and Hong Kong side-by-side in a way that, while acknowledging the differences between the movements, points out their similarities and connections.” —Jeffrey Wasserstrom, University of California, Irvine
“The chapters in this volume illuminate two important new social movements by focusing on their cultural and symbolic dimensions. Expertly edited by two distinguished scholars of youth, intellectuals and political activism, this book makes an important contribution to the meaning of media and political culture in contemporary social movements.” —Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania
“For such momentous events, there is not yet a commensurately substantial body of academic literature…. This volume therefore represents a valuable contribution, with a novel comparative perspective on both movements as ‘participative performances that mobilized cultural frames to act out new forms of civic identity and community deliberation’ (p. 14). The editors promise a more granular approach to the dynamics and texture of each movement, an appreciation of the spatial dynamics whereby public spaces were reappropriated and reorganized, and the spectacular expressive dimensions manifest in artwork, artefacts and ephemera through which claims were articulated.”—Jonathan Sullivan, University of Nottingham, The China Quarterly, July 2021.
"Editors Thomas Gold and Sebastian Veg seek to go 'beyond social movement theory' (p. 7) because both movements 'displayed a spectacular expressive dimension' with participants 'articulating claims through artwork and ephemera' and 'act[ing] out the deeper changes in identity and political culture' (pp. 5, 9). Contributors conducted research through structured interviews, participant observations, and examination of artworks and archives. The analyses should be of interest to students of comparative social movements and Chinese politics."—Victoria Tin?bor Hui, University of Notre Dame, Journal of Chinese Political Science (2021) 26:779–780
"The book raises many stimulating questions about the future of grassroots political movements both in Taiwan, an island increasingly threatened by the People’s Liberation Army, and Hong Kong, where Xi Jinping since 2020 has imposed a more authoritarian 'new normal' on its political elite and civil society as a whole.... All in all, this book should be read by people interested in the social movements, new forms of political activism, and changing political cultures in the Chinese world." —Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Hong Kong Baptist University, The China Journal (Jan. 2022) 87:202 7204
"This edited volume provides a robust, comparative and cross-disciplinary analysis of the origins, processes and impacts of the two anti-authoritarian movements against China in 2014. This book will appeal to political scientists, sociologists, and those interested in the contemporary history of Chinese politics and East Asian geopolitics." —Yan-ho Lai, Center for Asian Law, Georgetown University Law Center, The Journal of Development Studies, 2022
"The nuanced contributions in this excellent edited volume elucidate how movement participants enacted their democratic hopes, visions, and identities at critical times in the history of these societies.... What sets this book apart is its imaginative framework; the editors have done a great job at tying the various contributions together and situating them within the social movement literature." —Leon N. Kunz, The University of Texas at Austin, in Pacific Affairs, vol. 95, no. 3 (Sep. 2022).
"The book offers empirically extremely rich materials, and the thick descriptions of the movement spaces and developments on the ground allow the reader to feel connected to participants and leaders in the movements. Indeed, the recognition that emotions are at the forefront or provide crucial context links the different examinations."—Malte Philipp Kaeding, University of Surrey, China Perspectives, 2022/1 | 2022, 82-83.
"This book provides fascinating case studies to reconsider the intersection between cultural repertoires and social mobilisation in an understudied Asian context. It will be a valuable text for anyone studying social movements, protest cultures, and East Asian politics. The collection’s greatest contribution, however, stems from its capacity as a witness of the shifting political history of Taiwan and Hong Kong before both are pushed past the point of no return."—Chiaoning Su, Oakland University, International Journal of Taiwan Studies 7 (2024): 415–428.
