What Has Chatterjee Got to Do With Civil Society?

Dr Philip Holden, University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore

Chaterjee helps us consider very deeply what concepts such as state, community, and market mean in the context of colonialism, and later in the context of a nationalism which emerges from colonialism. One of Chatterjee's most important points is that we need to think through history very carefully and very responsibly. Doing this means that we cannot

• Either take Western political science theories and apply them in a "modular" fashion to postcolonial nation-states such as Singapore
• Or sloppily claim that "Asian" social and political orders are different from "Western" ones without any evidence.

Above all, we need to remember that the attitudes we take for granted about civil society, about community, market, and state, are themselves the products of history. Chatterjee helps us remember this.

Let's start with colonialism. . .

Last Modified: 19 April, 2002