Disavowing Liberalism – A View on the Evolving ‘Political Economy’ of Singapore

Wed, 25 Oct, 2017, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (GMT+8.0)

The HEAD Foundation

20 Upper Circular Road The Riverwalk #02-21 Singapore 058416

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OVERVIEW

NUS Press proudly presents a book talk by Professor Chua to introduce his new book, Liberalism Disavowed: Communitarianism and State Capitalism in Singapore (NUS Press, 2017).

In his talk, Professor Chua will elaborate the following argument from the book.

In an era where isolationists and nationalists appear to be increasingly assertive across the globe, particularly in liberal Western democracies, Singapore is frequently held up as an example of the success of a thriving free market economy.  
 
Yet the cliché of a thriving free market economy does not sufficiently explain the political legitimacy and longevity of the ruling party’s parliamentary power. To fully explain the ruling party’s political staying power, one needs to return to its social democratic beginnings and examine the underpinnings of some Singaporean political and economic institutions, specifically the national public housing programme and the very sizeable state sector constituted by government-linked corporations and two sovereign wealth funds.


MEET THE SPEAKER

Prof Chua Beng Huat
Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore/
Acting Head of Urban Studies, Yale-NUS College
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Professor Chua Beng Huat, a Singaporean obtained his PhD from York University, Canada. He has held visiting professorships at universities in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Australia and the US.
He returned to Singapore in 1980 to take up the position of Director of the Social Research Unit at the Housing and Development Board.  He joined the Department of Sociology at National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1986. Until mid-2015, Professor Chua headed the Department of Sociology at NUS. He was appointed Provost Chair Professor in 2009 and concurrently the Cluster Leader of the Cultural Studies in Asia program at the Asia Research Institute (ARI).
Professor Chua’s research interest covers multiracialism and multiculturalism; public housing policies; East Asian pop culture and political economy of Singapore. His publications include: Structure, Audience and Soft Power in East Asian Pop Culture (2012); Communitarian politics in Asia (2009); Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Reader (2007) co-written with Chen Kuan-hsing; Political Legitimacy and Housing: Stakeholding in Singapore (1997); Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore (1995); and his recently launched book, Liberalism Disavowed: Communitarianism and State Capitalism in Singapore.
 


This event is presented by NUS Press.

Admission is free.

Disavowing Liberalism – A View on the Evolving ‘Political Economy’ of Singapore

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