Parallel Spaces of Migrant (Non-)Integration in Singapore: Latent Politics of Distance and Difference Within a Diverse Christian Community

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how the spatial practices of churches can lead to the (non-)integration of migrant communities. Whilst churches bring migrants and non-migrants together in space and time, so too can they cause them to become divided along ethnic, national, linguistic and/or class-based lines. In such cases, migrants can become integrated into a community of other migrants, which can discourage integration into the church-at-large, or into society more generally. These practices of (non-)integration give rise to parallel spaces of Christian praxis that can lead to the reproduction of distance and difference between (and within) migrant and non-migrant communities. To illustrate these ideas, we draw on 106 in-depth interviews conducted between November 2017 and February 2018 with Christian migrants from six Asian countries currently living in Singapore, with Singaporean Christians, and with Singapore-based church leaders. The data reveal how the integrative potential of Christianity can be undermined (or negated) by the spatial exclusion of migrant communities within places of religious praxis. To conclude, we highlight the need for research to explore the ways in which religious groups may contribute to the (non-)management of ethno-national diversity in the contemporary world.