TY - JOUR
T1 - Old “cowboy towns”
T2 - enduring democratic enclaves as Singapore’s alternative digital histories, 1994–2011
AU - Liew, Kai Khiun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Once overshadowed in a tightly controlled media environment, alternative voices in contemporary Singapore found new avenues through the emerging cyberspace from the 1990s. As irreverent satire, critical commentaries, community networks and knowledge repositories blogs, websites and forums, they came to reflect the digital presence and extension of a nascent, autonomous and enduring digital public culture. Extending the discussion of democratic enclaves within authoritarian political cultures, this article positions such sites as democratic enclaves within alternative digital histories, once alluded by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as “cowboy towns.” Amidst the creeping trends of “flawed democracies” as historical precedence, these sites are reminder to the precarious democratic foundations, possibilities and networks pioneered over the early years of the internet.
AB - Once overshadowed in a tightly controlled media environment, alternative voices in contemporary Singapore found new avenues through the emerging cyberspace from the 1990s. As irreverent satire, critical commentaries, community networks and knowledge repositories blogs, websites and forums, they came to reflect the digital presence and extension of a nascent, autonomous and enduring digital public culture. Extending the discussion of democratic enclaves within authoritarian political cultures, this article positions such sites as democratic enclaves within alternative digital histories, once alluded by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as “cowboy towns.” Amidst the creeping trends of “flawed democracies” as historical precedence, these sites are reminder to the precarious democratic foundations, possibilities and networks pioneered over the early years of the internet.
KW - Singapore
KW - alternative digital histories
KW - enduring democratic enclaves
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165506822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/24701475.2023.2236909
DO - 10.1080/24701475.2023.2236909
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165506822
SN - 2470-1475
VL - 7
SP - 313
EP - 332
JO - Internet Histories
JF - Internet Histories
IS - 4
ER -