{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Sociology","slug":"new-books-in-sociology-671620","podcast_index_feed_id":671620,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/v2qTvjo5","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/e2f45575-aa64-469b-823c-25f04d775e35/5b19178e-705b-42a9-8667-20cf6fa413a9/3000x3000/b6e67e348fe6c83f677a9dc9bd7ac1fe.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology","last_synced_at":"2026-09-19T12:22:01.061961+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-sociology-671620"},"episode":{"title":"Ming-sho Ho, \"Be Water: Collective Improvisation in Hong Kong's Anti-Extradition Protests\" (Temple University Press, 2025)","slug":"ming-sho-ho-be-water-collective-improvisation-in-hong-kong-s-anti-extradition-protests-temple-university-press-2025","published_at":"2026-09-13T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-sociology-671620/ming-sho-ho-be-water-collective-improvisation-in-hong-kong-s-anti-extradition-protests-temple-university-press-2025","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-sociology-671620","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/e2f45575-aa64-469b-823c-25f04d775e35/episodes/80be6ba9-f251-4b4c-8572-6c49a2501440/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=e2f45575-aa64-469b-823c-25f04d775e35&awEpisodeId=80be6ba9-f251-4b4c-8572-6c49a2501440&feed=v2qTvjo5","summary":"During the eventful summer of 2019 in Hong Kong, the Be Water Revolution formed to resist the proposed extradition of fugitives to mainland China’s courts. With its name derived from martial arts master Bruce Lee’s adage “formless and shapeless like water,” the incident turned out to be the city’s largest episode of contentious politics and was unique for using impromptu communication among participants and the absence of central leadership. In Be Water: Collective Improvisation in Hong Kong's Anti-Extradition Protests (Temple University Press, 2025), Dr. Ming-sho Ho examines the dynamics of the city-wide uprising from the perspective of agency power. He seeks to understand how numerous and anonymous Hongkongers contributed to this epoch-making campaign as well as how they responded to the full-scale state repression that enveloped them. Dr. Ho praises and questions the durability of the inventive Be Water Revolution and how the activists encouraged protests spontaneously, through interpersonal networks and by voluntarily collaborating with strangers at great personal risk. Dr. Ho posits a new concept of “collective improvisation” to make sense of such a decentralized yet creative way of protesting. Be Water seeks to understand the rise and long afterlife of this movement and illustrate its efficacy. As Dr. Ho shows, these dynamics of collective improvisation have implications for contemporary protest movements around the world. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your…","meta_description":"During the eventful summer of 2019 in Hong Kong, the Be Water Revolution formed to resist the proposed extradition of fugitives to mainland China’s courts…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2788,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-sociology-671620/episodes/ming-sho-ho-be-water-collective-improvisation-in-hong-kong-s-anti-extradition-protests-temple-university-press-2025/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-sociology-671620/ming-sho-ho-be-water-collective-improvisation-in-hong-kong-s-anti-extradition-protests-temple-university-press-2025.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}