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From intangible culture heritage to political symbol – a study of milk tea, emotions, and the Pan-Asian pro-democratic movement
Author(s)
Date Issued
2024
Publisher
Routledge
ISBN
9781032292601
9781032293066
9781003300984
Citation
In Bozoğlu, G., Campbell, G., Smith, L., & Whitehead, C. (Eds.). (2024). The Routledge International Handbook of Heritage and Politics. Routledge.
Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
This chapter explores the role of emotions associated with cultural heritage in political activism. Although researchers have examined what emotions inspire or deter different forms of socio-political movements, this chapter takes a new direction by considering what heritage items, online practices, and emotional stances are necessary to legitimate alliance building and energise the transnational pro-democratic movement among young Asians. The chapter examines Facebook content and Instagram hashtags as discourses of emotions regarding cultural heritage and social movements, with a focus on milk tea as a heritage symbol and the pan-Asian pro-democratic #MilkTeaAlliance movement. I argue that through everyday rituals of posting milk tea-related content on social media, including texts, illustrations, photos, cartoons, and memes, young Asian activists establish milk tea as a common cultural heritage, evoking emotions about their common past and the autocratic present, to justify a sense of closeness and build trust for alliance formation. In addition, drawing on the past regarding milk tea makes it a powerful political symbol for activists to express their anger towards political injustice and nurture the emotional commitment required to energise the pan-Asian pro-democratic movement in the long term.
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