Singapore: From Port to Developmental State

The text analyzes the model of exercising power and building national identity in Singapore. The author points to the concept of 'performance legitimacy,' where acceptance of the government results from the efficiency of delivering material goods, such as housing or education. It discusses the process of creating a 'modular nationality' that combines a common civic layer with the preservation of ethnic differences, resembling a port structure based on compatibility. Utilizing theories by Foucault and Hacking, the article describes mechanisms of 'governmentality' and 'hacking up people,' showing how the state designs the environment of citizens' choices through public policies. Overall, it presents Singapore as a system for optimizing human capital, in which material infrastructure and symbolic rituals serve to stabilize and manage a modern society.