Shaping the Nation State

This paper explores the relationships between ethnicity, class and the New Population Policy (NPP) in Singapore in the context of its nation state project. Post-colonial theories of development have tended to neglect ethnicity despite the challenge it can present to nation-building. Yet, in Singapore, not only do ethnic divisions endure in the social fabric of the city, but the national government explicitly promotes a cultural pluralism in which all ethnic groups are to be treated fairly. The NPP appears to pose a particular challenge to this fair treatment as its incentives are widely seen as favouring the Chinese. The paper uses data from a sample of the Singaporean population to investigate the impact of the NPP on both ethnic and income (class) groups in order to assess the importance of the ethnic dimension in this aspect of Singapore's development strategy. It concludes that, although differences in fertility behaviour may be rooted in ethnic identity, the control that the government wishes to exert over that behaviour as part of its nation-building project has largely been effected through class interests, and may be better interpreted as part of a broader strategy of human resource management which is attracting the attention of other Asian newly industrialising countries

Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Government (linguistics · Political science · Population · Sociology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Law