The 70's Biweekly: Social Activism and Alternative Cultural Production in 1970s Hong Kong

Lu Pan

jun 2023 · Hong Kong University Press

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Taking The 70’s Biweekly—an independent youth publication in the 1970s’ Hong Kong—as the main thread, this edited volume investigates an unexplored trajectory of Hong Kong’s cultural and art production in the 1970s that represents the making of a dissent space by independent press and activist groups in the city. The 70’s Biweekly stands out from many other independent magazines with its unique blending of radical political theories, social activism, avant-garde art, and local art and literature creations. By taking the magazine as a nodal point of social and cultural activism from and around which actions, debates, community, and artistic practices are formed and generated, this book fills gaps in studies on how young Hong Kong cultural producers carved out an alternative creative and political space to speak against established authorities. 

Split into three parts, this book provides readers with a panoramic view of the political and cultural activisms in Hong Kong during the 1970s, writings on art and film, and crucially, interviews with former founders and contributors that reflect on how their participation led them to engage ideologically with their activism and community that extended far beyond the temporal and physical bounds of the magazine.

“This unique collection represents a very valuable addition to the cultural history of the 1970s in Hong Kong and globally. While the journal 70’s Biweekly serves as a connecting thread, the volume in fact has broad ramifications, documenting the political, intellectual, and cultural struggles of the anticolonial and incipient democracy movement in Hong Kong.”

—Sebastian Veg, École des hautes études en sciences sociales

“The 70’s Biweekly was significant and impactful in Hong Kong in the early 1970s. It was an influential cultural and political platform during the early stage of the development of social movements in the colony. An attempt to examine the publication and its wider impacts will further enrich the body of literature on Hong Kong society and culture.”

—Lui Tai-lok, The Education University of Hong Kong

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Lu Pan is associate professor in the Department of Chinese History and Culture at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.