Bottom-up community bazaars: A case of community economic strategy in HK

Since the year 2000 Hong Kong facing economy recession, the government actively addresses her actions in poverty alleviation, which include Social Enterprise Scheme, Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme, and Employees Re-training Programmes, in order to assist the disadvantaged groups to re-enter the employment market. However, even though the unemployment rate maintains at low level recently (at about 3.3 %), poverty problems in Hong Kong persist and deteriorate. In the poverty report 2014 by the government, after the policy intervention, the size of poor population remains substantial (in numbers - 962 100 persons) and the poverty rate at 14.3 %. In addition, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. There are significant inequalities in the areas of employment, housing, and even daily consumption activities. The community workers and activists in Hong Kong are finding ways to respond to the needs of the disadvantaged and foster social change. They started Community Economic Development (CED) practices, like worker co-operatives, community currency and fair-trade since 2000. This paper reports on a study on the community economic work of two local community work organizations. These organizations intervene into two deprived communities, the work of which consists of organizing the “illegal” street venders and advocating for the “bottom-up model of bazaar organization”. The paper reviews these CED practices to contextualize the intervention, analyzes the practitioners’ experiences and their strategies of practices. It aims at enriching community work knowledges on CED practices and critically reflecting upon the significance of expanding the zone of collective mutuality as strategy for the welfare of disadvantaged communities in the current context of rising poverty and inequalities, and particularly in the context of Hong Kong.