(IN)VISIBLE POVERTY: SPATIALITIES AND EMOTIONAL GEOGRAPHIES OF THE URBAN POOR IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Obscured by images of economic success, poverty is a relatively unknown and unseen phenomenon in Singapore. But invisibility does not mean absence. Recent discussions and debates on the establishment of a poverty line in Singapore have dragged the issue of poverty into the much-needed spotlight.

Poverty is increasingly recognised to be multidimensional, consisting more than simply material or monetary lack. Vulnerability, social isolation, powerlessness, lack of respect, and humiliation, are just some of the realities the poor experience. Social exclusion has replaced the term poverty in many contexts, particularly in Europe, to represent and illuminate aspects of this multidimensionality of poverty.

Emotion is a key socio-spatial relation which shapes and sheds light on how the material realities of poverty and socio-spatial exclusion are lived and experienced. Emotion is also implicated in the production of exclusionary realities. Yet, the emotional dimension of poverty and socio-spatial exclusion is under-researched and remains relatively invisible in poverty research.

Thus, engaging in an inductive study, this thesis aims to make visible the diverse and multifaceted spatialities (i.e. socio-spatial relations) of Singapore’s urban poor, particularly their emotional relations, and reveal their experiences of socio-spatial exclusion. I illustrate how emotions are bound up in the experience and production of material, social and psychological exclusionary realities the poor face in various socio-spatial contexts. By critically considering the role of emotions, I argue for more emotionally-attuned poverty research and policies, to develop better strategies in alleviating poverty and cultivating inclusion as Singapore progresses as a nation.