Patriotism and the limits of globalization: the renegotiation of citizenship in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore, as one of the world’s most globalized nations, has undergone a series of tumultuous political and economic crises that has forced the nation’s leaders to adopt a very proactive stance to the formation of national identity. To create an imagined nation that would secure economic growth and harmonious ethnic ties, the leaders of the nation chose to define Singapore as a global city, which has had a long-term effect of lessening citizen loyalty to the Republic as the effects of globalization are realized. This article examines the role of globalization in forming and weakening national identity, and hence patriotism in Singapore, and explores the ways in which civic discourse is employed by the citizens and governmental leaders of Singapore to renegotiate national identity and patriotism.