Chinese ethnicities in neoliberal Singapore? State designs and dialect(ical) struggles of community associations
2013; Routledge; Volume: 37; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01419870.2013.774034
ISSN1466-4356
Autores Tópico(s)Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
ResumoSince the late 1990s, Singaporean state authorities have been increasingly marketing the city state as a knowledge-based hub between mainland China and western societies. Their focus on Mandarin-speaking mainlanders contrasts with Singapore's historical Chinese roots. By investigating the daily activities of Hokkien and Teochew community associations, I argue that these associations are finding ways to adapt to state initiatives that market a China-centric identity and target mainlanders. These dialect-based associations try to profit from state designs, while at the same time reclaiming their own historical distinctiveness. Drawing on qualitative work, I document the temporal practices of local dialect-based associations in reaction to neoliberal state initiatives that reduce Chineseness to a de-historicized skill set and stress how state–community interactions shape evolving Chinese ethnicities of the city state.
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