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https://doi.org/10.62836/jissh.v3i1.0005
Ma, C. (2026). The History of Women’s Development in Colonial Regions (Hong Kong and South Korea). Journal of Integrated Social Sciences and Humanities, 3(1), 0005. https://doi.org/10.62836/jissh.v3i1.0005
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2026

The History of Women’s Development in Colonial Regions (Hong Kong and South Korea)

This article adopts a postcolonial feminist perspective to examine the development of feminism in South Korea and Hong Kong between 2000 and 2015. Situating both cases within the context of colonial legacies and contemporary political transformations, the study analyzes how feminist movements emerged and evolved under different political and social conditions. In South Korea, feminism advanced certain policy reforms through engagement with state institutions, while simultaneously encountering strong backlash from conservative political forces. In contrast, feminism in Hong Kong was more closely connected with grassroots social movements, labor rights advocacy, and pro-democracy mobilization, yet it often remained marginal within the broader political agenda. Through comparative analysis, this article highlights both the similarities and divergences in the trajectories of feminist development in the two societies, and shows how global feminist ideas have been localized and translated within distinct historical and cultural contexts. The study argues that in postcolonial societies, feminism is continually negotiated and reconfigured between global discourses and local realities. By doing so, this research contributes to the theoretical development of postcolonial feminist studies and offers a new perspective for understanding the evolution of gender politics in East Asia.

post-colonial feminism South Korea Hong Kong feminist movements localization and translation gender politics

References

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Supporting Agencies

  1. Funding: This research received no external funding.