Affective cosmopolitanisms in Singapore: Dancehall and the decolonisation of the self

• Published in: Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965) 2021-03, Vol.46 (1), p.135-148
• Main Author: Woods, Orlando
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: affect; body; Cosmopolitanism; Culture; dancehall; decolonisation; Human body; Singapore
• ISSN: 0020-2754; 1475-5661
• DOI: 10.1111/tran.12407

This paper advances a new understanding of cosmopolitanism, one that is rooted in the affective potential of the body. It argues that while the self is often projected onto the body, so too can the body play an important role in (re)imagining the self. As such, the body can decolonise the self from the mind, from the expectations of society and culture, and from the normative epistemological underpinnings of academic knowledge production. I validate these theoretical arguments through an empirical focus on the practice of dancehall in Singapore. Dancehall is an emancipatory cultural movement that emerged in Jamaica in the late 1970s, and, among other things, has become known for its sexually provocative representation of the human body. Singapore, on the other hand, is a conservative Asian city‐state in which cosmopolitan self‐fashioning is an elite, top‐down process imparted by the government and education system. By reconciling dancehall culture in/and the Singapore context, I explore how Singaporean youths forge new, more affective, forms of cosmopolitan self‐realisation. Through dancehall, they learn how to engage with the self on their own terms, and thus realise new ways of being in the world.