Civic Multiculturalism in Singapore

This book is about multiculturalism, broadly defined as the recognition, respect and accommodation of cultural differences. Teo proposes a framework of multicultural denizenship that includes group-specific rights and intercultural dialogue, by problematising three issues: a) the unacknowledged misrecognition of non-citizens within the scholarship of multiculturalism; b) uncritical treatment of citizens and non-citizens as binary categories and; c) problematic parcelling of group-specific rights with citizenship rights.

Drawing on the case of Singapore as an illustrative example, where temporary labour migrants are culturally stereotyped, socioeconomically disenfranchised and denied access to rights accorded only to citizens, Teo argues that understandings of multiculturalism need to be expanded and adjusted to include a fluidity of identities, spectrum of rights and shared experiences of marginalisation among citizens and non-citizens. Civic Multiculturalism in Singapore will be of interest to students and scholars of multiculturalism, critical citizenship studies, migration studies, political theory and postcolonial studies.

Argues that the accommodation of cultural difference (i.e. through rights and a sense of belonging) should be extended beyond national citizens Contests the treatment of citizens and non-citizens as binary categories Fits within the scholarship of multiculturalism as well as critical scholarship from the feminism, postcolonialism, postnationalism and citizenship

Auteur
Terri-Anne Teo is a Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. Multicultural Citizenship.- 3. The Exclusions of Citizenship.- 4. Singapore and the Headscarf Affair.- 5.The Costs of Migration.- 6. Black Boys, Black Boys.- 7. Multicultural Denizenship. - 8. Conclusion.