The Politics of Landscapes in Singapore: Constructions of "Nation"

by Lily Kong (Editor), Brenda S. A. Yeoh (Editor)

Overview

This thought-provoking book explores strategies employed by Singapore, a multiracial society, to create a Singapore "nation" with an emphasis on the role of landscape. As such, the authors cast keen eye on religious buildings, public housing, heritage landscapes, and street name changes as tangible methods of nation-building in a postcolonial society. The authors illustrate how "nation" and "national identity" are concepts that are negotiated and disputed by varied social, economic, and political groups--some of which may actively resist powerfuI state-centrist attitudes. Throughout this work, the role of the landscape prevails both as a way to naturalize state ideologies and as a means of providing possibilities for reinterpretation in everyday life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815629801
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2003
Series:	Space, Place and Society
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Lily Kong is associate professor in the Department of Geography and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore. Among numerous publications, she coauthored Singapore: A Developmental City State and coedited Globalization and The Asia-Pacific: Contested Territories.

Brenda S. A. Yeoh is associate professor in the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore. She is the coauthor of Singapore: A Developmental City-State, co-editor of Gender and Migration and author of Community and Change: The Tanjong Pagar Community Club Story.

Editorial Reviews

An empirically rich application of contemporary ideas in cultural and political geography, Kong and Yeoh's work is a very rewarding read.-- "Progress in Human Geography"

Kong and Yeoh delve into the building of a nation through the use of landscapes. . . . With its relatively new status of a nation, Singapore has struggled with the development of a nation as a means of giving people a sense of pride and belonging and a method to discourage emigration. Kong and Yeoh examine the development of this unique nation through 'death, ' religious, housing, heritage and art landscapes in addition to toponymic inscriptions of landscapes. . . . A fascinating book that brings together the nation as defined through landscapes in Singapore. The book is well researched and written in an easy-to-understand tone. Arguments are presented as much as possible from all sides to include both positive and negative impacts of the States' policies.-- "Journal of Cultural Geography"

From the Publisher

This book intelligently examines the various forces that have shaped Singapore's emergence as a 'nation.' . . . The structure of the book is straightforward. After a general introduction on the rationale of studying 'landscape politics,' a number of short chapters flesh out various aspects of Singapore's nation-building project. The topics covered are diverse, ranging from an analysis of religion's role in the creation of Singapore as a nation, to a examination of how changes in street names reflect the nation-building process, and a discussion of how the framing of performing arts spaces in Singapore is geared towards enhancing nationalist feelings. . . . A essential read for everyone interested in Singapore's remarkable status in the world economy in general and in Southeast Asia in particular.

Bijdragen: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania

An empirically rich application of contemporary ideas in cultural and political geography, Kong and Yeoh's work is a very rewarding read.

Progress in Human Geography

Kong and Yeoh delve into the building of a nation through the use of landscapes. . . . With its relatively new status of a nation, Singapore has struggled with the development of a nation as a means of giving people a sense of pride and belonging and a method to discourage emigration. Kong and Yeoh examine the development of this unique nation through 'death, ' religious, housing, heritage and art landscapes in addition to toponymic inscriptions of landscapes. . . . A fascinating book that brings together the nation as defined through landscapes in Singapore. The book is well researched and written in an easy-to-understand tone. Arguments are presented as much as possible from all sides to include both positive and negative impacts of the States' policies.

Journal of Cultural Geography