Racing whiteness in Asian bodies: The influence of American conservatism on Singaporean anti‐colonial nationalism

Abstract In contemporary Singaporean sociopolitical discourse, comparisons with the West—particularly the USA and the UK—have become pervasive across a wide range of critical social issues. These comparisons often serve to reinforce the political positions of the Singaporean state by contrasting them with perceived shortcomings in the Western world. Utilizing a linguistic anthropological framework, this paper explores the phenomenon of anti‐colonial nationalism, wherein state representatives dismiss challenges to the Singaporean status quo as unpatriotic, Western‐influenced, and thus dangerously “white.” By demonstrating how Singapore's anti‐colonial politics is paradoxically shaped by the anti‐liberal and populist rhetoric of the contemporary American right, this paper argues that anti‐colonialism is a product of twenty‐first‐century neoliberal nationalism. Underscoring the importance of examining how political rhetoric crosses international borders, this study seeks to invite a conversation on the dynamics of nationalist discourses in the twenty‐first century, and how the language of decolonization can be co‐opted by new forms of state power and control through a racing of “whiteness.”