Falling short : class and the performance of the familial

Abstract

The family is framed as central in contemporary Singapore. Both discursively and practically, membership in a narrowly-defined family has significant consequence for both symbolic worth and access to public goods. In this paper, I examine the conditions necessary for performing middle-class ideals of family, and the ways in which families with low-income do not have them. The case of Singapore demonstrates the pitfalls of assuming universality in the familial form. In particular, it challenges the fairness of welfare policies that embed within them narrow notions of familial forms and relations.