Concepts History Singapore History The Nation A
Singapore History, the Nation and Nation-Building (1,000 words) Singapore Society.
The word limit for this assignment is 1,000 words.
Question (100 marks)
This year, Singapore celebrates its bicentennial – 200 years since the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles, commonly spoken of as the year of the founding of modern Singapore which marked the start of a dramatic transformation of Singapore. The event commemorates this, yet increasingly, it is also acknowledged that Singapore’s history dates further back.
Read the article ‘Singapore’s bicentennial commemoration in 2019: A time to reflect on its rich history’, Channel NewsAsia, 31 December 2017 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/sin…
Drawing on the course materials, examine the link between a nation’s history and nation- and state-building processes (and challenges). In your answer, you should reflect upon the impact of accounts of national history on the construction of the nation-state, as reflected, for example, by the bicentennial commemoration.
Student notes
For this assignment, you should demonstrate a basic understanding of the arguments put forth in Study Unit 1 and its readings. Additional research, only if needed, can be done from both academic and news databases in the SUSS library’s e-resources (JSTOR, Sage Sociology collection, SOCIndex for academic resources; Factiva for news). You may familiarise yourself with the bicentennial celebrations from reports in the local media.
The TMA allows you to recognise the socio-historical factors that contributed to the development of Singapore and Singapore’s national character. Using evidence from the readings, critically discuss the way nation-building and its corresponding challenges have been framed by considering the constructions of national history, the motivations behind these, and their consequences. For instance, think about how concerns about Singapore’s future, postindependence as well as today, have often been framed.
In responding to the question, you should consider:
1. The meanings of the concepts ‘history’, ‘state’, ‘nation’ and ‘nation-state’ as used by sociologists and social scientists; the processes of state-building and nation-building – you should differentiate the two (Don’t need to define in the report, just applied the concepts)
2. Singapore as a secondary nation-state, and the way this contributed to the historical exigencies of post-independent nation-building 3. The significance of accounts of national histories for the building of nation-states, e.g., Singapore’s founding myths and national interests as defined by the state, and how these have had impact on nation-building
The main purpose of this TMA is for you to understand Study Unit 1, and its readings, pertaining to the sociological concepts and historical exigencies of Singapore’s nation-building and state-building. In particular, it allows you to appreciate the nation-state as social and cultural construction.
It is important that you utilise the material and arguments from the course materials for your assignment, and that you ensure you demonstrate a sound sociological understanding of this issue. Be sure to refer to the article stated in the question.
Write your answers in not more than 1,000 words. Please remember to provide the word count, and list of references. Be sure to use appropriate and academic sources, including your course materials.
APA references