De‐Specializing Hong Kong: Identity Politics and the New Museum of History

ABSTRACT

This article critically examines the transformation of state museums in post‐2020 Hong Kong, focusing on the Hong Kong Museum of History (HKMH) as a key site where cultural heritage is mobilized for ideological ends. Situating recent curatorial changes within the political reconfiguration following the enactment of the National Security Law, the study argues that museums have become crucial instruments in remaking Hong Kong identity within a pan‐Chinese nationalist framework. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, exhibition analysis, and observation of visitor behavior, the article highlights how narratives of colonial oppression, national humiliation, and cultural continuity are strategically deployed to legitimize contemporary governance. It also interrogates how silences, omissions, and immersive displays function to align collective memory with state objectives. By reframing museums as active agents of nationalization, the article contributes to debates in museum anthropology and heritage politics, offering Hong Kong as a case study of authoritarian cultural governance.