Approaching the hegemonic discourse on youth politics in Hong Kong

Using discourse analysis, this article examines mainstream media construction and representation of the dominant aspect of youth politics in Hong Kong. Particular attention is paid to the collective and deliberate project of framing youth in an undesirable way, then demoralising, devaluing, disempowering and discrediting young people. This meaning-construction project is political in the sense that the demands and observations of young people, notably the existence of socioeconomic inequality and political decay, can be rejected and rebutted through representation of young people as ignorant, dependent, incompetent and perhaps immature, in which case they are not entitled or eligible to question or even challenge the existing order, regardless of whether it is unfair, unequal or discriminatory.