The developmental worker : social engineering and worker participation

• Main Author: Sung, Johnny
• Published: University of Leicester 2001
• Subjects: 338.95957
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.696908

There are four broad aims in this thesis. Firstly, I explore how the developmental state achieves its developmental objectives through collaborative effort with the workers. Secondly, within this context, I examine the significance of the practice of social engineering and nation building, and how social engineering and national building form an integral part of Singapore's economic growth process. These analyses give rise to new perspective in examining the growth process in Singapore - i.e. the 'developmental worker' model. The third aim of this thesis is therefore to establish the theoretical content of the developmental work model. The fourth aim of the thesis is to employ both qualitative and quantitative data to substantiate the developmental worker model in Singapore. The contributions of the developmental worker model are two-fold. Firstly, to my best knowledge, it is the first attempt of its kind to incorporate a workers' perspective into the analysis of the gwoth experience in Singapore. By creating a complementary concept (i.e. the developmental worker model) for the developmental state mode, the thesis makes the developmental state model analytically more 'complete'. Secondly, through the developmental worker model, the thesis also represents the first attempt to examine the empirical content of the workers' interpretative understanding process and the collective beliefs of Singapore workers. The combined effects of these two empirical elements lead to the ultimate social actions on the part of the workers, i.e. a collaborative effort between the state and workers to achieve the 'economic miracle' in Singapore.