BLACK LIVES MATTER IN SINGAPORE: POSSIBILITIES, LIMITATIONS AND CONTRADICTIONS

Abstract

The resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) in response to the death of George Floyd in May 2020 saw its trans- national impacts echoed across cities in the United States and the world. Singapore was no different; Young activists took to social media as they shared their own experiences with racism in Singapore whilst negotiating with its distinct racial historical origins from the U.S. In the process of fostering solidarity with BLM, nascent tensions unfold due to the distinctly different racial histories in both countries. At the same time, activists also had to grapple with larger state censors which curtailed critical discourse around race. Therefore, this research seeks to answer the following questions: How have racial relations in Singapore been mediated through social media amongst youths in Singapore in the context of the larger trans-national movement of BLM? How do young activists in Singapore use social media to talk about race in Singapore? How and why did BLM find salience amongst Singaporean youths? Using Foucauldian and transnational feminist approaches, the research hopes to explore the ways in which race is conceived of, policed and used as a basis for transnational solidarity building in Singapore. This paper will employ feminist methodologies alongside a mixed methods approach by using social media as a primary text to critical conduct discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews with young activists. By drawing on a variety of literature as well as grounded research, this paper offers a relevant and timely intervention into exploring the critical flows of race politics and solidarity building across trans-national boundaries.