Precarious scenes

Fieldwork in Hong Kong through protest and pandemic

Authors

  • Jonathan Chan The Chinese University of Hong Kong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.19335

Keywords:

Hong Kong, Indie Scene, Precarity, Protest, Pandemic, marginalization

Abstract

This article examines how the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill protests in Hong Kong, and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, has affected the indie music scene on a local level. It also explores the many ways that artists, bands and venue owners have sustained music activities and reflects on the impact that the pandemic has had on the author’s own research as a postgraduate student. The author discusses the changes that he has had to make following gig cancellations. The article concludes by considering how the pandemic has foregrounded performances of precarity in the scene’s activities, long before any pandemic or even protest movement occurred.

Author Biography

  • Jonathan Chan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Jonathan Chan is a Master’s student researching the indie music scene in Hong Kong. He is an active musician and participant in the scene, performing with various bands and artists as well as being a music journalist in the scene. His research primarily focuses on boundaries, mediation and precarity in the indie scene.

References

Butler, Judith. 2009. ‘Performativity, Precarity and Sexual Politics’. Revista de antropologia iberoamericana 4/3: I–XIII. https://doi.org/10.11156/aibr.040303e

Han, Clara. 2018. ‘Precarity, Precariousness and Vulnerability’. Annual Review of Anthropology 47: 331–43. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102116-041644

Martin-Iverson, Sean. 2012. ‘Autonomous Youth? Independence and Precariousness in the Indonesian Underground Music Scene’. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 13/4: 382–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14442213.2011.636062

Negus, Keith. 1999. Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. London: Routledge.

Thornton, Sarah. 1995. Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Tone Music TV. 2020. ‘TONE Online Music Festival Vol.2 Part 6: SilHungMo Oct 31, 2020’. Tone Music TV. https://youtu.be/1oodj_O57kg

Published

2021-12-21

How to Cite

Chan, J. . (2021). Precarious scenes: Fieldwork in Hong Kong through protest and pandemic. Perfect Beat, 21(2), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.19335