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

• Main Authors: KONG, Lily, WOODS, Orlando
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Christianity; Singapore; migration; difference; bordering of identity; Asian Studies; Religion
• 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
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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.