When talent meets mobility: un/desirability in Singapore's new citizenship project

Abstract

Singapore's marketing strategy as a ‘gateway’ between East and West, a project developed at the end of the 1990s, is based on the city–state's re-positioning in the knowledge-based economy between an emerging China and Western societies. This project targets elite populations whether they are locals or migrants to frame a citizenship design combining mobility and talent. I will critically assess the impacts of Singapore's gateway strategies on the formation of citizens–subjects through the notion of un/desirability. By focusing on stories of desirable subjects, I will stress the everyday tensions arising in the production of neo-liberal citizens. I argue that desirable subjects are struggling with the neo-liberal pressures to become ‘self-governed entrepreneurs’ at the gateway, which is symptomatic of schisms between the city–state's citizenship project and their own practice. I especially target the crucial role of community associations in mediating these tensions and supporting the city–state's citizenship project.