Singapore’s Grassroots Environmental Movement: Modes of Representation in the Garden City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i1.4384Keywords:
Grassroots activism, Environmental movement, Environmental memory, Climate literacy, Formal representation, Informal representationAbstract
Singapore’s model of illiberal democracy has translated into a style of environmental governance that scholars describe as ‘authoritarian environmentalism’ (AE) for its top-down, non-participatory nature. AE in Singapore has given rise to a manicured, cosmeticized landscape in which nature is selectively integrated into urbanity to offer outside observers the impression of a ‘Garden City’.
A gap in the literature exists regarding the response the grassroots environmental movement in Singapore has mounted to AE. This paper contends that the movement seeks to restore individuals’ personal connections to the land, both in its undamaged state and current degradation, in a bid to appreciate nature from whichever baseline one can remember. As a guiding structure, the paper references a framework developed by sociologist Kate O’Neill and identifies local examples of the variables ‘formal representation’ and ‘informal channels’. The former variable refers to movement participation in formal negotiations and policymaking. The latter variable describes solidarity-building with the aim of cultivating an organic, just transition to a green Singapore
This paper argues that Singapore’s illiberal mode of governance limits the environmental movement’s access to channels of formal representation, compelling it to rely heavily on informal representation to achieve environmental change. This paper recommends a hybrid model of formal and informal representation as key to the success of the movement. For its emphasis on the influence of a country’s political context on its present-day environmental governance, this paper has utility as a reference point for other developmental states which exhibit interventionist, utilitarian policymaking.
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