Abstract

‘Consumption, Cities and States’ examines the fascinating intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in a cross-section of global cities in Asia and the West. It focuses on a number of theoretical and empirical analyses: developing and amplifying the intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in late modernity in relation to a range of cities; examining the concept of the global city as an ‘aspirational’ category for cities in Asia and the West; and considering case studies which highlight the intersection of consumption and the state. As Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee demonstrate, the interface between citizen status and consumer activity proves a crucial point of analysis in the light of the neoliberal assertion that individuals and institutions perform at their best within a free market economy.

Ann Brooks is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Health and Community, Plymouth University. She was appointed Professor of Sociology and Cultural Studies at the University of Adelaide in 2008 and is part of the Australian Research Council–funded Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions.

Lionel Wee is a Professor and Head of the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore.

In ‘Consumption, Cities and States: Comparing Singapore with Asian and Western Cities’, Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee focus on the interrelationship of consumption, citizenship and the state in the context of globalization, calling for greater emphasis to be placed on the citizen as consumer. While it is widely recognized that citizenship is increasingly defined by ‘gradations of esteem’, where different kinds of rights and responsibilities accrue to different categories and subcategories of ‘citizens’, not enough analytical focus has been given to how the status of being a citizen impacts the individual’s consumption. The interface between citizen status and consumer activity is a crucial point of analysis in light of the neoliberal assertion that individuals and institutions perform at their best within a free market economy, and because of the state’s expectations regarding citizens’ rights and responsibilities as consumers not just as producers. In this remarkable comparative study, the authors examine these relationships across a number of cities in both Asia and the West.

‘This broad-ranging book, demonstrating the breadth and capacity of the authors, provides new insights into what it means for cities to aspire to global city status. It focuses attention on city-state relations and the reflexive roles of individuals and institutions in the making of global cities. While the work centres on Singapore, interested readers will welcome its comparative analysis of other global city aspirants.’ —Lily Kong, Vice Provost at the National University of Singapore and coeditor of ‘Creative Economies, Creative Cities: Asian-European Perspectives’

‘This is a theoretically sophisticated and always accessible transdisciplinary comparative analysis of Singapore’s successive strategies to become a world-class or global city. The book explores its capacities for institutional self-reflection and strategic learning and the sometimes banal, sometimes surprising tactics adopted to consolidate local loyalties and attract foreign talents and investment.’ —Bob Jessop, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Lancaster University