Liberalism Disavowed: Communitarianism and State Capitalism in Singapore

by Beng Huat Chua

Overview

In Liberalism Disavowed, Beng Huat Chua examines the rejection of Western-style liberalism in Singapore since the nation’s expulsion from Malaysia and formal independence as a republic in 1965. The People’s Action Party, which has ruled Singapore since 1959, has forged an independent non-Western ideology that is evident in various government policies that Chua analyzes, among them multiracialism, public housing, and widespread social distributions to the citizenry.

Singapore is prosperous and peaceful, it’s highly advanced on various metrics of economic development, it has a great deal of regional influence, it is home to sophisticated industries and a large financial service sector, and it features what are by Western standards unusually low levels of social inequality. Paradoxically, however, it is no beacon of political liberalism. Chua sets forth ample evidence that the dominance of the People’s Action Party is based on a combination of economic success and media control, limits on public protests, libel suits against political opponents, and severely curtailed civil liberties.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501713439
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	06/19/2017
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Beng Huat Chua holds the Provost Chair in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore and directs the Cultural Studies in Asia program at the NUS Asia Research Institute. He is the author of Structure, Audience and Soft Power in East Asian Pop Culture, Life Is Not Complete without Shopping: Consumption Culture in Singapore, Political Legitimacy and Housing: Singapore’s Stakeholder Society, and Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore.

What People are Saying About This

Daniel A. Bell

Liberalism Disavowed is an important book. It's the best discussion of the history and significance of Singapore’s distinctive political economy. Beng Huat Chua’s argument is theoretically rich, well supported with ample sources, and benefits from an insider’s perspective. He persuasively argues that the People’s Action Party has maintained, even reinforced, its left social democratic orientation over the past fifty years, in contrast to the mainstream view that it has abandoned its socialist roots in its quest for capitalist success in a globalized world.

Editorial Reviews

Liberalism Disavowed is... an excellent one-volume treatment of Singapore society, and scholars interested in Asia, political economy, and alternative governance ideologies can approach the text with confidence.

Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

This well-written and insightful volume is the culmination of Chua Beng Huat's academic work on state and society in Singapore and brings together many of his path-breaking arguments that have significantly shaped our understanding of the country.

contemporary southeast asia

An informative and nuanced publication on this question of liberalism's place in contemporary Singapore. The publication serves as a useful text on both the city-state's peculiar politics and the nature of liberalism itself as it is actualised—or rejected—in the modern world.

Mekong Review

The contribution of Chua's Liberalism Disavowed is very large in that it shows how the hegemony of the PAP is working and resisting liberalism, especially in the everyday world of Singaporeans. It re-interprets the origin of public support for the PAP by focusing on its embedded social democratic origin.

inter-asia cultural studies

This penetrating account of the Singapore model by a senior Singaporean sociologist explains both why the model works and why it is not transferable to other countries.... Contrary to conventional wisdom, he argues that neither repression nor a cultural preference for authoritarianism explains the regime's success; rather, the state's successful policies - rooted in social democratic ideology and meritocratic leadership - and the island nation's strategic vulnerability explain why the population has accepted an elitist, repressive system for over 50 years and why it will probably continue to do so.

Foreign Affairs

The book is easy to read, full of statistical facts (except income distribution data), and suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and professional audiences.

Choice

Liberalism Disavowed is... an excellent one-volume treatment of Singapore society, and scholars interested in Asia, political economy, and alternative governance ideologies can approach the text with confidence.

-- "Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society"

An informative and nuanced publication on this question of liberalism's place in contemporary Singapore. The publication serves as a useful text on both the city-state's peculiar politics and the nature of liberalism itself as it is actualised--or rejected--in the modern world.

-- "Mekong Review"

The book is easy to read, full of statistical facts (except income distribution data), and suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and professional audiences.

-- "Choice"

The contribution of Chua's Liberalism Disavowed is very large in that it shows how the hegemony of the PAP is working and resisting liberalism, especially in the everyday world of Singaporeans. It re-interprets the origin of public support for the PAP by focusing on its embedded social democratic origin.

-- "inter-asia cultural studies"

This penetrating account of the Singapore model by a senior Singaporean sociologist explains both why the model works and why it is not transferable to other countries.... Contrary to conventional wisdom, he argues that neither repression nor a cultural preference for authoritarianism explains the regime's success; rather, the state's successful policies - rooted in social democratic ideology and meritocratic leadership - and the island nation's strategic vulnerability explain why the population has accepted an elitist, repressive system for over 50 years and why it will probably continue to do so.

-- "Foreign Affairs"

This well-written and insightful volume is the culmination of Chua Beng Huat's academic work on state and society in Singapore and brings together many of his path-breaking arguments that have significantly shaped our understanding of the country.

-- "contemporary southeast asia"

From the Publisher

"Liberalism Disavowed is an important book. It's the best discussion of the history and significance of Singapore’s distinctive political economy. Beng Huat Chua’s argument is theoretically rich, well supported with ample sources, and benefits from an insider’s perspective. He persuasively argues that the People’s Action Party has maintained, even reinforced, its left social democratic orientation over the past fifty years, in contrast to the mainstream view that it has abandoned its socialist roots in its quest for capitalist success in a globalized world."

Daniel A. Bell