Michael Hill

Bio: Michael Hill is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Multiracialism & Independence. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 332 citations.

The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore

Abstract: Since independence in 1965 Singapore has strengthened its own national identity through a conscious process of nation-building and promoting the active role of the citizen within society. Singapore is a state that has firmly rejected welfarism but whose political leaders have maintained that collective values, instead of those of autonomous individuals, are essential to its very survival. The book begins by examining basic concepts of citizenship, nationality and the state in the context of Singapore's arrival at independence. The theme of nation-building is explored and how the creation of a national identity, through building new institutions, has been a central feature of political and social life in Singapore. Of great importance has been education, and a system of multilingual education that is part of a broader government strategy of multiculturalism and multiracialism; both have served the purpose of building a new national identity. Other areas covered by the authors include family planning, housing policy, the creation of parapolitical structures and the importance of shared "Asian values" amongst Singapore's citizens.

Educating the national citizen in neoliberal times: from the multicultural self to the strategic cosmopolitan

Abstract: The paper is a broad, comparative investigation of shifts in the educational rhetoric and policy of three countries over the past two decades. Using England, Canada and the United States as case studies, I argue that the spirit of multiculturalism in education has shifted from a concern with the formation of tolerant and democratic national citizens who can work with and through difference, to a more strategic use of diversity for competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This shift is directly linked with and helps to facilitate the entrenchment of neoliberalism as it supports a privatization agenda, reduces the costs of social reproduction for the government, and aids in the constitution of subjects oriented to individual survival and/or success in the global economy.

Social Theory and Religion

Abstract: Introduction 1. Religion: a social constructionist approach 2. Secularisation 3. The vagaries of religious pluralism 4. Globalisation and religion 5. Social theory and religious movements 6. Constructing religion, self and society.

Linguistic Instrumentalism in Singapore

Abstract: The need to participate in a globalised economy creates a situation where 'the ability to cross boundaries' and the 'construction of new global, international norms' are especially important, and this has led to the 'old politics of identity' being increasingly abandoned 'in favour of a new pragmatic position' where language and culture are valued as commodifiable resources (Heller, 1999a: 5). In Singapore, this move towards a more pragmatic view of language can be seen in the Government's attempt to assert the economic value of the local languages, officially known as 'mother tongues'. The mother tongues originally contrast with English in a narrative where they are treated primarily as repositories of cultural values, and thus assigned to a domain (the traditional and cultural) that is distinct from that assigned to the latter (the economic and technological). This paper explores the factors motivating the Government's shift towards a discourse of linguistic instrumentalism, as well as its consequences,...