A city of exceptional risks? A critical policy analysis of Hong Kong unemployment insurance

The COVID-19 pandemic engenders unemployment risks globally and locally. Reflectively engaging in Beck's risk society debates, this paper critically reviews the discursive effects of "risks" when employed by the government in debates about unemployment insurance since the 1997 sovereignty handover. We break down the concept of risk into four layers: moral risk, financial risk, socio-economic risk and political risk and bring to light the contradictory outcomes that colour the nuanced attitudes among the state, the NGOs and the affected subjects.