Conduct and Counter-conduct in the “Nonliberal” State: Singapore’s Headscarf Affairs

Identifying forms of conduct and counter-conduct in Singapore speaks to debates about governmentality’s relevance to presumptively “nonliberal” societies. Examining the headscarf affair in Singapore demonstrates the shared utility of governmentality where the governance of religiosity bears similarity to how it plays out in the Anglophone West through the conduct of conduct, manifest within forms of racial and civic conduct. Closer scrutiny further reveals counter-conducts that, while diffuse, subvert and reformulate the conduct of the governed “multiracial” subject. Acts of counter-conduct take verbal, aesthetic and silent forms, reappropriating multiracial norms, reclaiming public space and reasserting a sense of belonging as compatible with Singapore’s multicultural nationalism. Where they reveal failures, suppression and the continuity of governmental power, acts of counter-conducts in Singapore’s headscarf affairs draw attention to new subjectivities and a desire to be other than governed.     

Middle power identities of Australia and South Korea: comparing the Kevin Rudd/Julia Gillard and Lee Myung-bak administrations

This paper explores the middle power identities of Australia and South Korea during the Kevin Rudd/Julia Gillard (2007–2013) and Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013) administrations. Considering the problems in the existing position, behaviour, impact and identity-based definitions of middle powers, examining how self-identified middle powers have constructed such an identity would offer useful insights into the middle power concept. Relying on a framework that captures an identity's content and contestation, this paper argues that while Australia and South Korea have assumed a middle power identity, their visualisations of this identity are slightly different. Australia has understood its middle power identity in both economic and security terms, whereas South Korea appears to have connected such an identity more with the economic dimension. These differences affect how they envision their respective middle power roles in international affairs.     

Participation in change,job characteristics,and hedonic well-being of senior public managers: The moderation effect of change information

This study contributes to Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources theory by testing a moderated mediation model of the relationship between participation in change and senior managers’ hedonic well-being. Using data collected from 266 Australian senior managers employed in the Commonwealth and State public sector, we tested the interaction of participation in change and change information with job satisfaction, an example of hedonic well-being at work. Findings from the path analysis produced two new insights. First, both participation in change and information about change are key resources that senior managers can deploy to protect and enhance their job satisfaction. Second, information about change has a buffering effect on the indirect relationship between participation in change and job satisfaction through job control. These two findings have practical implications indicating that it is important to train and equip senior managers in the adoption of effective strategies to acquire job resources in assisting them deal with change induced job demands.     

Target Malacca Straits: Maritime Terrorism in Southeast Asia

The strategic and economic importance of the Straits of Malacca makes it one of the world's major sea routes most vulnerable to a terrorist attack. The piracy problem that continues to frustrate maritime authorities in the Straits bears proof to this and, given the heightened security concerns post–9/11, has alarmed the waterway's major users. Although international pressure has forced the littoral states—Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia—to up their efforts on improving Straits security, national interests and a reluctance to address the problem as a potential terror threat continues to hinder cooperation. This article attempts to look at how three neighbors in the same Straits came to have such divergent policies on combating maritime terrorism.     

Inequality for the Greater Good: Gendered State Rule in Singapore

Abstract

The Singapore state, in response to demographic trends of later marriage and lower fertility, has put in place numerous institutions aimed at “protecting” the family as a unit. In their effects, many of the policies place disproportionate burdens on women, particularly insofar as the policies reproduce “traditional” gendered divisions of labor within the household at the same time that they encourage women to participate in the formal workforce. We might expect the contradictory demands placed on women and the gender inequalities embedded within the state's policies to lead to resistance and/or expressions of displeasure — in ways that could undermine the state's legitimacy — but the policies seem instead to be integral to and enhancing of the state's capacity for rule. This article shows that gendered family policies reproduce state power through three interconnected mechanisms: they establish regular relationships between state and society; articulate particular identities and interests of Singaporeans as members of families, thereby undercutting gender and ethnic identities; and give content to notions of “tradition” and “modernity” that solidify the state's claim to being the only agent able to balance the twin tensions that are at the core of the nation's survival.     

Cybercrime victimization among young people: a multi-nation study

This study examines cybercrime victimization, what some of the common characteristics of such crimes are and some of the general predictors of cybercrime victimization among teenagers and young adults. A combined four-country sample (Finland, US, Germany and UK; n = 3,506) is constructed from participants aged between 15 and 30 years old. According to the findings, online crime victimization is relatively uncommon (aggregate 6.5% of participants were victims). Slander and threat of violence were the most common forms of victimization and sexual harassment the least common. Male gender, younger age, immigrant background, urban residence, not living with parents, unemployment and less active offline social life were significant predictors for cybercrime victimization.