Renaissance Singapore?: Economy, Culture, and Politics

Abstract

In this collection, public intellectuals and civil society activists discuss Singapore's public rhetoric about liberalization and its association with the development of a creative economy, focusing on questions surrounding conservatism, national identity and values, civil society activism, and the societal role of the younger generation. Moved by Singapore's Renaissance City Report, released in 2000 amidst an uneasy mix of millennial celebration and pessimism arising from a prolonged economic downturn, the authors engage with the public rhetoric of Singapore's transformation into a forward-looking, critical, open, unconventional, diverse, participatory, and inclusive society.