ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the diversity of gangs in a global context and the need for theoretical lenses that incorporate the role of urban history and social change in understanding the global gang phenomenon. At the same time, scholars from the global South have sought to sharpen the methodological and theoretical tools of a nascent ‘Southern criminology’ that privileges non-Western field sites and forms of knowledge. In this chapter, we seek to contribute to both debates through a historical analysis of the development of the youth gang phenomenon in Hong Kong, exploring political, organisational and social dynamics. Drawing on a review of archival sources, the chapter argues that gangs in Hong Kong reflect a particular combination of localised street culture, postcolonial legacy and cultural politics that suggests the need to grow a critical genealogical approach to gangs in a global context.
