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Cultural hybrids or ethnic fundamentalists? discourses on ethnicity in Singaporean SMEs

Cultural hybrids or ethnic fundamentalists? discourses on ethnicity in Singaporean SMEs This paper examines national and ethnic discourses within Singaporean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the ambiguities and dichotomies characterising Singaporean national and ethnic identity. Singapore is represented officially as a multi‐ethnic state with a Chinese majority which claims to integrate minority groups such as Indians and Malays successfully, and it boasts a generalised Singaporean culture and identity that supposedly embrace the racial and ethnic diversity of the population. However, Singapore also hosts tensions and conflicts associated with such diversity. This paper examines workplace discourses which address tensions and congruencies. The paper is based on research conducted between April 2002 and May 2003, involving 50 SMEs representing various sectors of the economy and constituting various ethnicities. The research found that, while discourses on ethnicity and nationality may be characterised as somewhat ‘shifting’ and ‘fluid’, the respondents present their identities as rather fixed. Primordial ties rather than postmodern multiplicity may better characterise discourses among the workers and owners of Singaporean SMEs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian Ethnicity Taylor & Francis

Cultural hybrids or ethnic fundamentalists? discourses on ethnicity in Singaporean SMEs

Kopnina, Helen
Asian Ethnicity , Volume 5 (2): 13 – Jun 1, 2004
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Cultural hybrids or ethnic fundamentalists? discourses on ethnicity in Singaporean SMEs

Abstract

This paper examines national and ethnic discourses within Singaporean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the ambiguities and dichotomies characterising Singaporean national and ethnic identity. Singapore is represented officially as a multi‐ethnic state with a Chinese majority which claims to integrate minority groups such as Indians and Malays successfully, and it boasts a generalised Singaporean culture and identity that supposedly embrace the racial and ethnic diversity of the...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1469-2953
eISSN
1463-1369
DOI
10.1080/1463136042000221915
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper examines national and ethnic discourses within Singaporean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the ambiguities and dichotomies characterising Singaporean national and ethnic identity. Singapore is represented officially as a multi‐ethnic state with a Chinese majority which claims to integrate minority groups such as Indians and Malays successfully, and it boasts a generalised Singaporean culture and identity that supposedly embrace the racial and ethnic diversity of the population. However, Singapore also hosts tensions and conflicts associated with such diversity. This paper examines workplace discourses which address tensions and congruencies. The paper is based on research conducted between April 2002 and May 2003, involving 50 SMEs representing various sectors of the economy and constituting various ethnicities. The research found that, while discourses on ethnicity and nationality may be characterised as somewhat ‘shifting’ and ‘fluid’, the respondents present their identities as rather fixed. Primordial ties rather than postmodern multiplicity may better characterise discourses among the workers and owners of Singaporean SMEs.

Journal

Asian Ethnicity – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jun 1, 2004

Keywords: transnationalism; national identity; ethnic identity; small and medium enterprises (SMEs); Singapore; integration

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