Date/Time
Date(s) - April 15, 2026
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Location
LSC 324, Lory Student Center

Categories No Categories

Dr. Ming-sho Ho
DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AT NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

*Location will be added soon*

This lecture presents a new book on Hong Kong’s 2019–2020 pro-democracy movement, widely known as the “Be Water” Revolution. Emerging from opposition to the Extradition Bill, the protests evolved into one of the largest mobilizations in Hong Kong’s history before the National Security Law institutionalized expanded surveillance and repression. The case provides a concise framework for understanding decentralized protests in digitally networked societies and the global diffusion of authoritarian governance. Advancing an agency-centered explanation, the lecture argues that collective improvisation enabled leaderless coordination, rapid tactical innovation, and adaptive resistance through digital peer production.

The presentation also foregrounds the role of public sociology. It examines the ethical responsibilities associated with researching contentious politics under conditions of repression, including the protection of participants while maintaining analytical independence. The lecture further discusses how sociological evidence can inform public debate, support threatened communities, and translate scholarly findings into responsible, evidence-based advocacy without compromising methodological rigor

Ming-sho Ho is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology at National Taiwan University. His research focuses on social movements, labor politics, and environmental governance, with particular attention to state–society relations and democratic transformation in East Asia. He has held several prestigious international fellowships, including an appointment as a Harvard–Yenching Fellow. Professor Ho is widely recognized for his contributions to both scholarly and public discourse. In addition to his academic publications, he is an active public intellectual who regularly writes opinion columns and analytical essays for major media outlets in Asia, translating sociological research into accessible commentary on contemporary political and social issues. His recent book publications include Be Water: Collective Improvisation in Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Protests (2025), which examines decentralized mobilization and tactical innovation in the 2019 protest movement. He is currently working on a new book project that analyzes the trajectories of major social reforms in Taiwan through the lens of coalition-building between movement activists and party politicians.