Forces of global integration and local autonomy have impacted on debates over the definition and redefinition of gendered ethnic identities among the Chinese in Singapore. These discourses are examined in two historical contexts: contemporary government policy-making on gender issues; and the Chinese cultural reform movement at the turn of the century. Linking contemporary and historical discourses are themes of gendered identity formation in response to tense interactions between globalising forces and moves to assert local autonomy. Striking parallels are shown between gender constructions in the two periods in which engendering discourses were central to redefinitions of Chinese ethnic identities.
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