Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NOORMAN ABDULLAH
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
Lecture Outline
Conceptual framework
History and national identity in Singapore State ideologies and the politics of nationbuilding State symbols and rituals
1. Conceptual Framework
(A)
Power
1. Conceptual Framework
(B) Power
Multi-level State power Coercion: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun (Mao) Consensus:
Material practices: economic, improve standard of living Ideological practices: national narrative for mass consumption
1. Conceptual Framework
(C) Ideology
A comprehensive set of ideas and beliefs proposed by the dominant ruling class of a society to all members of a society Multiculturalism Multilingualism Asian Values/Shared Values State ideology - Adherence to the set of ideals stipulated, enforced through different state institutions
1. Conceptual Framework
(D) Nation (construction of nation)
Benedict Anderson (1983) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin & Spread of Nationalism
An (1) imagined community of (2) horizontal equals, but with (3) finite borders
(1) The members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellowmembers, meet them or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion (p.15)
1. Conceptual Framework
(B) Nation
An (1) imagined community of (2) horizontal equals, but with (3) finite borders
(2) Nations are communities because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship (Anderson, p.16)
(3) These communities are imagined as both limited and sovereign and have finite, if not elastic borders, beyond which lie other nations (Anderson)
1. Conceptual Framework
(B) Nation
Members are bound together based on a perceived shared commonality that is understood as a common culture language, ethnicity, territory, religion, and history (Hobsbawm & Ranger, 1983).
Singapore was never meant to be a nation, does not have to function as a nation, and might function more efficiently and dynamically if it does not have the ambition of being a nation. There can be a Singapore without Singaporeans (Kwok & Ali, 1998).
1997
Singapore was a state but not a nation Narratives of anxiety and vulnerability
Racial riots in 1964 and 1969 Economic problems from oil crisis in 1973/74 Global recession in mid-1980s Asian financial crisis
(1) Multiculturalism
Accord each community equality before the law, and equal opportunity for advancement
Effective model for racial harmony?
(2) Multilingualism
Ideolo3. Ideology & the Politics of Nation-Buildinggy & the Politics of Nation-Building
Like Japan and Korea, Singapore is a high-performance country because we share the same cultural base as the other successful East Asians, that is, Confucian ethic. We have the same core values which made the Japanese, Koreans and Taiwanese succeed. If we want to continue to prosper we must not lose our core values such as hard work, thrift and sacrifice. The question is how to preserve them when daily we are exposed to alien influences. My suggestion is: formalise our values in a national ideology and then teach them in schools, workplaces, homes, as our way of life. Then we will have a set of principles to bind our people together and guide them forward.
(Goh Chok Tong, 28 October 1988)
Nation before community and society before self Family as basic unit of society Regard and community support for the individual Consensus instead of contention
If individuals find the nation too abstract an idea to imagine or even too distant from everyday life to identify with, then governments and political leaders will turn to more concrete symbols to personify, reify, and objectify the nation. The nation is concretised as material object: flag, food, product, or visual icon (p.5). The making of the Singapore nation through national symbols and rituals
2009
2010
1. Symbols bring people together and are markers of membership to foster solidarity
2. Symbols organise shared experiences and meanings, and helps to express important values of a nation-state
3. Thus, the national symbols of Singapore express the beliefs and ideals of the country
A set of highly structured, sequential, repetitive and stylised sets of visible acts mainly performed for symbolic value, which has secular origins
Display the central values and axioms of the culture in which it occurs (Turner, 1974:156)
2.
3.
Militaristic elements (the Khaki Nation) drill, discipline, regimentation, orderliness, obedience planned by MINDEF, masculinising the nation
Sense of oneness in the parade, but also separation and hierarchy between officials, participants, and spectators
The parade is a living tableau of centralised discipline and control. Its logic assumes, by definition, a unified intelligence at the centre which directs all movements of the body The leaders stand above and to the side while, at their direction, their subordinates, ranged in order of precedence from most to least, marching in the same direction and in time to the same music, pass by in review. In its entirety, the scene visibly and forcibly conveys unity and discipline under a single purposeful authority.
1. Multiculturalism
- Joy of Harmony (1976) - Living Harmoniously in a Multicultural Blend (1985) - Many Races, One Nation (1988)
2. Youthfulness
- Importance of youth in nation-building - Narrative of nascent and young nation-state
3. Historical Past
- Obscure fishing village to economic powerhouse - Economic progress & hard work towards excellence 4. Narrative of Progress - Ceremonial backdrop of NDP - Location of NDP
5. National Identity in a Transnational Perspective How is national identity shaped as a consequence of global and transnational processes?
Worldwide acceptance of the system of nation-states To achieve inter-national legitimacy Joined as a member of the U.N. (September 1965) Formed ASEAN with other regional countries (1967) Transnational interdependencies: nation-state is inter-locked with other nations
Sociological Imagination
Individual
Public
Global
Conclusion
History and National Identity Construction State Ideologies & Nation-Building State Symbols, Secular Rituals & NationBuilding Open question: Are such ideologies, symbols, and power of the ruling elite passively accepted by everyone?
References
Anderson, Benedict (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin & Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso. [JC311 And] Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger (eds.) (1983). The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge U.P. [HM201 Inv] Kwok, Kian Woon and Marian Mohd Ali (1998) Cultivating Citizenship and National Identity, in A. Mahizhnan & Lee Tsao Yuan (eds.) Singapore: Reengineering Success, Singapore: Oxford University Press, pp. 112-122. [DS599.63 Sre]
References
Leong, Laurence Wai Teng (2001). Consuming the Nation: National Day Parades in Singapore, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 3(2): 5-16. Scott, James (1990). Domination and the Arts of Resistance, New Haven: Yale U.P. [HM278 Sco] Turner, Victor (1974). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul [GN473 Tur]