Disjunctures of belonging and belief: Christian migrants and the bordering of identity in Singapore

Migration results in people that are different from one another living in closer physicalproximity. Proximity increases the chances of encountering difference, and can lead to boththe formation of new communities, and the strengthening of old. As a religion that claims tointegrate people into a tran...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: KONG, Lily, WOODS, Orlando
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2823
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4080/viewcontent/Disjuncture_of_belonging_2019_sv.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Migration results in people that are different from one another living in closer physicalproximity. Proximity increases the chances of encountering difference, and can lead to boththe formation of new communities, and the strengthening of old. As a religion that claims tointegrate people into a trans-ethnic, trans-territorial faith community, Christianity encouragessuch encounters, whilst Christian groups play an important role in mediating them.Disjunctures of belonging and belief are the outcomes that arise from encounters withdifference within spaces of Christianity. Drawing on 100 interviews conducted betweenAugust 2017 and February 2018, this paper unravels these disjunctures through a focus on theinterplay between migrant and non-migrant Christian communities in Singapore. WhilstChristian groups have the potential to be agents of integration, we consider the ways in whichthey encourage the ‘bordering of identity’ by serving to divide communities rather than unitethem.