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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Internalized Boundaries: Aware’S Place In Singapore Emerging Civil Society, Lenore T. Lyons
Internalized Boundaries: Aware’S Place In Singapore Emerging Civil Society, Lenore T. Lyons
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
In the foundational narratives that members of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) tell about the organisation’s formation, many topics remain (to echo the state’s vernacular) ‘out-of-bounds’. In this paper I examine the ways in which AWARE members construct their own ‘OB markers’ in telling the history of AWARE. The constructedness of this history in itself is not remarkable. In telling stories about themselves and others, we expect situated actors to re-construct and re-present the past. In this paper, however, I argue that during its first decade of activism the process of delineating the boundaries of AWARE’s …
A Curious Space ‘In-Between’: The Public/Private Divide And Gender-Based Activism In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons
A Curious Space ‘In-Between’: The Public/Private Divide And Gender-Based Activism In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
In Singapore, the state’s role in shaping the space of civil society has been well documented. Many scholars argue that civil society in Singapore is largely a state-sanctioned sphere of engagement that has emerged in response to middle-class pressure for greater political liberalization. In these accounts, the space of civil society is described as an arena that is shaped by the state, and in which the state constantly intervenes. What is less clear, however, is how the space of civil society is gendered. Through an analysis of women’s activism in Singapore, this article deconstructs the binaries ‘public/private’ and ‘state/civil society’ …
Transient Workers Count Too? The Intersection Of Citizenship And Gender In Singapore’S Civil Society, Lenore T. Lyons
Transient Workers Count Too? The Intersection Of Citizenship And Gender In Singapore’S Civil Society, Lenore T. Lyons
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
In November 2002, a group of Singaporean activists established a group called The Working Committee 2 (TWC2) to advocate for the rights of foreign domestic workers in Singapore. By limiting both its lifespan and the scope of its activities the TWC2 avoided the requirement that all NGOs formally register under the Singapore Registrar of Societies. At the end of its year-long campaign, however, the group signalled its intention to continue with its advocacy work. The new TWC2 (now called Transient Workers Count Too) was registered in August 2004. For some commentators, the TWC2 represents a new phase in the People’s …
Moving Beyond The Ob Markers: Rethinking The Space Of Civil Society In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons, J. Gomez
Moving Beyond The Ob Markers: Rethinking The Space Of Civil Society In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons, J. Gomez
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
In January 2004, prior to his appointment as Singapore’s third Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong gave a landmark speech to the Harvard Club of Singapore in which he outlined a new style of statesociety relations. Claiming that “I have no doubt that our society must open up further”, Lee emphasized that one of the important tasks facing the government was to “promote further civic participation, and continue to progressively widen the limits of openness” (Lee 2004). In his comments, Lee sought to signal a break between the ruling style of former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, and himself.1 In light …
A State Of Ambivalence: Feminism And A Singaporean Women’S Organisation, Lenore T. Lyons
A State Of Ambivalence: Feminism And A Singaporean Women’S Organisation, Lenore T. Lyons
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
There has been some interest in recent years in identifying the features or characteristics of an ‘Asian’ or ‘Third-World’ feminism (Moraga and Anzaldua 1983; Jayawardena 1986; Grewal et al. 1988; Mohanty 1991; Basu 1995; Alexander and Mohanty 1997). Part of this concern has focused on a costs-benefits analysis of Asian women ‘coming out’ as feminists in overtly hostile political climates. For many women embracing the identity ‘feminist’ continues to be a difficult process. Caught within multiple and shifting discourses that serve to inscribe place, allegiance and behaviour, being a feminist is not only an expression of individual political belief, but …
The Limits Of Feminist Political Intervention In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons
The Limits Of Feminist Political Intervention In Singapore, Lenore T. Lyons
Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)
In recent years increasing attention has focused on the Singapore government’s new attitude towards limited public participation in civil society. The women’s rights organisation the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is one example of a nongovernment organisation (NGO) that is directly engaged in this newly emerging ‘civic’ society. AWARE’s activities are constrained, however, by a state demand that its objectives remain overtly ‘non-political’ and reformist in character. This has led some observers to comment that as a state-defined practice, feminism in Singapore is unable to address issues of structural inequality and difference.