Back Regions’ and ‘Dark Secrets’ in Singapore
The Politics of Censorship and Liberalisation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12565114 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Terence Chong, Terence Tai‐leung Chong (0000-0001-6866-9382, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 235-250 |
| Publication date | 2010-11-25 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Space and Polity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-2576 • E-ISSN: 1470-1235 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13562576.2010.532952 |
| OpenAlex | W1973487362 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 14 |
The political transition from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong to Lee Hsien Loong has generally been interpreted as a trajectory of gradual liberalisation in Singapore. This discourse of liberalisation is encouraged by a variety of factors such as policy changes over censorship regulations, a younger and more cosmopolitan polity, the government's global city ambition and desire to turn the city-state into a creative hub. Such factors, however, often obscure the contemporary policing dynamics of the People's Action Party (PAP) state. Using Erving Goffman's concepts of the ‘back’ and ‘front’ regions, this paper will demonstrate how the PAP state operates in different social spaces and how it engages in the different politics of these spaces. Using specific cases from the theatre community, this paper argues that the discourse of liberalisation has grown because the PAP state has, in recent times, exercised its censorship powers in the ‘back regions’ of theatre, away from the media and public. Finally, it will examine recent amendments to the Films Act and the Public Order Act which clamps down on acts of civil disobedience, and show that this is consistent with what Goffman calls ‘dark secrets’—that is, facts that are incompatible with an individual's or institution's public image
Censorship · Institution · Liberalization · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Sociology · State (computer science · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Goffman and Social Organization
Singapore
The State and Ethnic Politics in SouthEast Asia
Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore
Goffman and Social Organization Studies in Sociological Legacy. London and New York
Beyond Goffman
Appropriating Bourdieu
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |