Living with Globalization Tactically: The Metapragmatics of Globalization in Singapore

Singaporeans need not be told what globalization means. The popular media, as well as the political leaders of Singapore, have generated a "local-babble" of the derivative meanings of globalization. That globalization means "competitiveness", "innovation", "creativity", "entrepreneurship", and "foreign talent", has become deeply enculturated and embedded in the Singaporean consciousness. This paper will show that the "local-babble" on globalization in Singapore is ineluctably linked to state discourses and practices. I will argue in the paper that these state discourses are not free-floating, but produce teleological and ideological effects to regulate the Singaporean habitus, and create new subjectivities suitable for the new economy. Using Foucault's (1979) notion of "governmentality" and its related concepts and vocabularies, this paper will illuminate Singapore's response to new geo-politico-cultural-economic realities as it continues to live with globalization tactically.