Overview

In Liberalism Disavowed, Beng Huat Chua examines the rejection of Western-style liberalism in Singapore since the nation's expulsion from Malaysia and formal independence as a republic in 1965. The People's Action Party, which has ruled Singapore since 1959, has forged an independent non-Western ideology that is evident in various government policies that Chua analyzes, among them multiracialism, public housing, and widespread social distributions to the citizenry. Singapore is prosperous and peaceful, it's highly advanced on various metrics of economic development, it has a great deal of regional influence, it is home to sophisticated industries and a large financial service sector, and it features what are by Western standards unusually low levels of social inequality. Paradoxically, however, it is no beacon of political liberalism. Chua sets forth ample evidence that the dominance of the People's Action Party is based on a combination of economic success and media control, limits on public protests, libel suits against political opponents, and severely curtailed civil liberties.

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9781501713446

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Reviews

"""Liberalism Disavowed is an important book. It's the best discussion of the history and significance of Singapore's distinctive political economy. Beng Huat Chua's argument is theoretically rich, well supported with ample sources, and benefits from an insider's perspective. He persuasively argues that the People's Action Party has maintained, even reinforced, its left social democratic orientation over the past fifty years, in contrast to the mainstream view that it has abandoned its socialist roots in its quest for capitalist success in a globalized world.""-Daniel A. Bell, Shandong University and Tsinghua University, author of The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy ""Liberalism Disavowed is a major intervention in the debate about how to understand Singapore's political regime, powerfully exposing the limitations of ascendant liberal pluralist critiques of authoritarianism. Chua's argument is guaranteed to generate new debate within and beyond the study of Singapore. He radically transcends the prevailing juxtaposition of a general struggle between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. This book is the sharpest and most developed exposition yet of how and why the People's Action Party has institutionalized specific forms of social, economic, and political governance as a deliberate alternative to political and economic liberalism. His analysis has major implications for debates over the form and extent of Singapore as a model for political and economic development, not least for China.""-Garry Rodan, Murdoch University, coauthor of The Politics of Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Dominance of Moral Ideologies"

Liberalism Disavowed is an important book. It's the best discussion of the history and significance of Singapore's distinctive political economy. Beng Huat Chua's argument is theoretically rich, well supported with ample sources, and benefits from an insider's perspective. He persuasively argues that the People's Action Party has maintained, even reinforced, its left social democratic orientation over the past fifty years, in contrast to the mainstream view that it has abandoned its socialist roots in its quest for capitalist success in a globalized world. -Daniel A. Bell, Shandong University and Tsinghua University, author of The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy Liberalism Disavowed is a major intervention in the debate about how to understand Singapore's political regime, powerfully exposing the limitations of ascendant liberal pluralist critiques of authoritarianism. Chua's argument is guaranteed to generate new debate within and beyond the study of Singapore. He radically transcends the prevailing juxtaposition of a general struggle between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. This book is the sharpest and most developed exposition yet of how and why the People's Action Party has institutionalized specific forms of social, economic, and political governance as a deliberate alternative to political and economic liberalism. His analysis has major implications for debates over the form and extent of Singapore as a model for political and economic development, not least for China. -Garry Rodan, Murdoch University, coauthor of The Politics of Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Dominance of Moral Ideologies

Author Information

Beng Huat Chua holds the Provost Chair in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore and directs the Cultural Studies in Asia program at the NUS Asia Research Institute. He is the author of Structure, Audience and Soft Power in East Asian Pop Culture; Life Is Not Complete without Shopping: Consumption Culture in Singapore; Political Legitimacy and Housing: Singapore's Stakeholder Society; and Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore.

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