INTENTIONAL INFORMALITY: GOVERNING RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IN PUBLIC SPACE

Abstract

Studies on urban informality often focus on socio-economic processes, neglecting religion. Combining research bodies on ‘urban informality’ and the ‘geographies of religion’, this thesis responds to the academic lacuna on the politics of ‘informal religious spaces’ (IRS are sites where religious practices not explicitly condemned nor condoned by government authorities are performed, usually in public spaces). Specifically, I explore how IRS are governed; what gives IRS political legitimacy to exist despite challenging state laws about what is permitted in public space? Through qualitative methods of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and online communications with three groups in Singapore (government authorities, devotees, and non-devotees), I utilise Foucault’s governmentality to examine techniques of power welded by state authorities to construct mentalities and regulate people’s behavior in IRS. I then showcase how these techniques are imperfect, allowing users of space to resist authorities’ governance and negotiate for power in public space – hence, the creation of ‘informal religious spaces’ which exist outside the ‘order of urbanisation’. As a multi-religious nation which practices secular governance, I argue that Singapore’s system of religious governance has ‘informality’ intentionally built into it. ‘Informality’ as a method may be a possible model for governing IRS. I conclude this paper reflecting on how my findings speak to geographical debates surrounding the ‘right to the city’ and urban informality.