Hopefully this will be a wake-up call on how we treat migrant workers
National wokeness in press reports during the Covid-19 pandemic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6421708 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michelle M Lazar (0000-0002-0316-7004, National University of Singapore, Singapore), Wesley Wang (University of Oxford), Aaron Tham (0000-0003-1408-392X, University of the Sunshine Coast) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 883-901 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Discourse & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0957-9265 • E-ISSN: 1460-3624 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09579265241313061 |
| OpenAlex | W4406809990 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
This study examines how Singapore’s flagship newspaper, The Straits Times (ST), framed relationships between migrant workers (MWs) and non-state actors (NGOs, companies and individuals) during the Covid-19 pandemic. We propose the conceptual lens of national wokeness as a mediatisation strategy of positive self-presentation to overcome international criticisms concerning the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus amidst neglected MW dormitories, and to repair the nation’s reputational damage. The study identifies five key discursive themes: Provision, Participation, Awareness, Inclusiveness and Humanisation; the analysis of which shows different shades of wokeness in narrativising Singaporeans’ emergent social consciousness and benevolent efforts to address unmet health and social needs arising from the marginalised status of MWs in Singapore. This study shows how the pandemic offered a rare moment for a nation to pause and potentially reset its apathetic, racist and classist attitudes towards its MWs, and raises for reflection Singaporeans’ longer-term commitment to social change concerning MWs’ welfare after the pandemic passes
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Economic growth · Economics · Media studies · Migrant workers · Outbreak · Pandemic · Political science · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Sociology · Wake · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Virology
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Risk Communication and Community Engagement During the Migrant Worker Covid-19 Outbreak in Singapore
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Weaponization of Wokeness
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Singapore's Extreme Neoliberalism and the Covid Outbreak
Production Politics and Migrant Labour Advocacy in Singapore
Precarious Work and its Complicit Network
Filipino Home Care Workers
Social Protection for Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore
Soft violence
We Are All Migrant Workers
A method to analyze invisibility
White Allies and the Semiotics of Wokeness
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |