ABSTRACT

In an article published at the end of the twentieth century, I recounted how, in the course of my research on the Singaporean feminist movement, scholars and activists often responded with incredulity when I discussed the subject of my research-‘Is there really a women’s movement in Singapore?’ they would ask (Lyons 2000a). Indeed, there was (and still is!), and it traces its origins in the dense web of transnational networks that link its population to countries in Asia and further abroad. In this chapter, I trace the historical origins of these networks from the mid-1880s during the period of British colonialism through to Independence in 1965, and explore the continued role of transnational networks and connections through the latter half of the twentieth century up to 2008. In describing these links as ‘transnational’, I distinguish between three different meanings of the term-transnational framing, cross-border organizing, and transethnic solidarity. I use the term ‘transnational framing’ to refer to the process by which ideas circulate between different scales (the international, national and local) and become translated into concrete practices within specific organizational contexts (Desai 2005). The term ‘cross-border organizing’ is used to refer to instances of campaigns or activities that transcend the national border (Della Porta and Tarrow 2005). Finally, ‘trans-ethnic solidarity’ refers to the formation of national-level coalitions and alliances that are made up of individuals and/or organizations representing different ethnic and/or national groups. These groups are ‘transnational’ in the sense that they transcend nationality as the basis for women’s organizing.1 In using these interconnected concepts to trace the history of the women’s movement in Singapore, I do not want to underemphasize the importance of the local. Singapore’s rich history of women’s activism is an indigenous history based on the concerns and actions of women embedded within the particularities of Singaporean society. Contrary to the claims of the patriarchal state and its supporters, women’s activism and feminism are not expressions of ‘Western values’ but reflect the aspirations of multiple generations of Singaporean women (Lyons 2000a).