Complicating solidarity

Prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, there had been an extended period of civic unrest which began as opposition to an extradition bill but which later grew into a larger socio-political movement. We consider the relationship between ongoing political sentiments and the Covid-19 pandemic as evident through public signs; particularly, how commercial signage aligns and disaligns with government discourse on solidarity evident through recontextualization of the official tagline “Together, we fight the virus!” We suggest three analytical categories: (1) signs which demonstrate an alignment stance with the institutional sense of solidarity; (2) alignment with the pro-democracy movement, and thus disalignment from the institutional sense; and (3) politically ambiguous stances appealing to a broad understanding of solidarity for commercial gain. The pandemic occurring at a politically sensitive time has caused and made evident fractures in the way solidarity is construed, resulting in (dis)alignment and differing stances arising from the various social actors who have emplaced signs.

早於新冠肺炎疫情爆發前，香港已一段時間陷於社會動盪的局面。先有針對逃犯引渡條例的反對示威，後有繼而衍生的一連串更大規模的社會政治運動。透過觀察公共告示，本文剖析當時政治氛圍與新冠疫情的關連互動。文中重點分析香港官方口號“同心抗疫”的再語境化，並藉此釋述商業告示與政府論述在社會凝聚上的統合和分歧。為此，本文提出三個分析範疇：一、就社會凝聚與官方機構立場統合的告示；二、與親民主運動統合，因而和官方立場產生分歧的告示；以及，三、側重商業收益而籠統解讀社會凝聚和含糊政治立場的告示。於政治敏感時期爆發的疫情催生並揭示了在理解“社會凝聚”上出現的斷層，並使各設置告示的社會行動者之間進行統合和分歧，進而衍生不同立場。