An Uncertain Future: Singapore's Search for a New Focal Point of Collective Identity and its Drive towards `Knowledge Society'

Author: Hornidge, Anna-Katharina

Source: Asian Journal of Social Science, Volume 38, Number 5, 2010 , pp. 785-818(34)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

Having limited land, manpower and natural resources to rest on, Singapore's government decided in the early 1980s to focus on high-level human resource development, knowledge and creativity for long-term economic growth. The subsequent government actions were often framed under the notion of `knowledge society,' commonly called `knowledgebased economy.' This paper assesses the construction of knowledge society via Singaporean state activities as a social construct of reality that — in Weber's understanding — orients and motivates actors. It is argued that this construct `knowledge society,' today is not only a technological and economic programme, but furthermore is offered as means to explain and justify economic and social changes that are taking place. Therewith, it is offered as a visionary guide for collective action and a focal point of collective identity reducing feelings of insecurity and uncertainty in Beck's second modernity.

Keywords: knowledge society; vision; social construction; collective identity; insecurities; uncertainties; risk society; second modernity

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853110X522939

Affiliations: 1: Center for Development Research, University of Bonn

Publication date: 2010-10-01

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