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Sexing up the International

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Sexing up the International SEXING UP THE INTERNATIONAL by Simon Benjamin Obendorf Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2006 Department of Political Science The University of Melbourne PRODUCED ON ARCHIVAL QUALITY PAPER For M.F.O. - ii - ABSTRACT This thesis takes sexuality as its subject matter and uses a methodology informed by postcolonial studies to explore new possibilities for thinking about the international, its construction, and its contemporary politics. I argue that postcolonial readings of sexuality can impel us to rethink the meanings and politics of international theory and to challenge notions that have come to appear fixed and unchanging. The thesis canvasses how such an intervention might occur – calling especially for a focus on the local and the everyday – and considers both the utility and the limits of the contributions sexuality might make to a rethinking of international theory. My arguments are made with reference to a series of specific examples from contemporary East and Southeast Asia: the nationalistically imbued gendered and sexed figures of the national serviceman and the Singapore Girl in Singapore; the political and social repercussions of the trial of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on charges of sodomy; newly emerging homosexual identities in Hong Kong; and the connections between sexuality and disease that inform the Thai response to HIV/AIDS. These case studies exemplify some of the ways in which sexuality can work to recast traditional scholarly understandings of the international. They also illuminate a series of aspects that shape the encounter between sexuality and the international, encompassing issues of nationalism, globalization, metaphor, spatiality and knowledge politics. Through my analysis of these issues, I argue for a broadening out of the source materials that inform knowledge about the international and the pursuit of alternative modes of reading processes of international change and exchange. I contend that scholarship of the international needs to pay more attention to instances where the borders separating everyday, national and international spaces break down, and where we might detect new forms of knowledge about the nature, politics and functioning of the international realm. - iii - DECLARATION This is to certify that 1. the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated in the Preface 2. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used, 3. the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. _______________________________ SIMON BENJAMIN OBENDORF - iv - PREFACE Sections of the Introduction draw upon work originally undertaken as part of a collaborative exercise between the Department of International Relations at Jadavpur University, Kolkata and the Institute of Postcolonial Studies and first published as Phillip Darby, Devika Goonewardene, Edgar Ng and Simon Obendorf ‘A Postcolonial International Relations?” Institute of Postcolonial Studies Occasional Papers No. 3 (31 May 2003). Portions of Chapter Five were originally presented under the title “Sodomy as Metaphor: The International Resonances of the Anwar Ibrahim Trial” as part of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies Panel Series “Postcolonising the International – Internationalising the Postcolonial” on 2 May 2001. The chapter benefits from the thoughtful response of the respondent on that occasion, Professor Dennis Altman, as well as from the audience comments following the paper’s presentation. A revised version of Chapter Five, also drawing on aspects of the introduction and conclusion was published as: Simon Obendorf, “Sodomy as Metaphor,” in Postcolonizing the International: Working to Change the Way We Are, ed. Phillip Darby (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2006). - v - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to acknowledge those individuals and groups who have assisted and supported me through the processes of researching and writing this thesis. Key here is my friend, colleague and mentor, Phillip Darby. Phillip has provided both the inspiration and motivation for the thesis, as well as the intellectual guidance necessary to see it to completion. Without his energy, enthusiasm or encouragement this project would not have been possible. This thesis has its roots in an extraordinary collegiate culture created and nurtured by the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, Melbourne. I am privileged to have had both of the Institute’s founders, Phillip Darby and Michael Dutton, as supervisors of this thesis. My thanks must also go to my PhD fellow travellers at the Institute: Adam Driver, Devika Goonewardene, David Martin and Edgar Ng. Without their friendship, collaboration and generosity of spirit, this thesis - and the experience of writing it - would have been immeasurably diminished. Also at the Institute, I am pleased to express my gratitude towards R. Harindranath, Paul James, Anne Maxwell, Rob McQueen, Haripriya Rangan and Chris Stewardson who have been generous with their support and encouragement. Each one of these people has contributed to making the Institute a hub of both my intellectual and social life. Finally, I must record my heartfelt thanks and respect for Alan and Shirley Richmond, both for their support and friendship, and for their breathtaking generosity in making the Institute, and the cultures it creates and supports, a reality. The Department of Political Science has been my home at the University of Melbourne since my undergraduate years. Thanks are due to the administrative staff, Rita De Amicis, Natalie Reitmier, Wendy Ruffles and Ben Harper for taking care of the bureaucratic mysteries of doctoral candidature. My thanks also go to all those in the Department who have taken such a strong interest in my work: those with whom I have studied, students I have tutored and members of staff. At the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, thanks are due to Dianne Otto for encouraging me to explore the linkages between law, discourses of human rights and postcoloniality and to Amanda Whiting for her encouragement, insightful comments and criticisms of my work, especially with regard to the materials from Malaysia and Singapore. Also at the University of Melbourne, I thank my colleagues and students from International House, Janet Clarke Hall and Queen’s College who have been a source of friendship, encouragement and support during my doctoral candidature. - vi - I wish to extend my gratitude to Chengju Huang, Chris Hudson and Terry Johal from the Asian Media and Culture programme at RMIT University for their collegiality, their generosity in suggesting avenues of collaboration and for the interest they have shown in my work. The thesis benefited from time spent in the libraries of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, India and the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka. My thanks go to the faculty and staff of both of these institutions for their generosity in allowing me access to research materials. Thanks also go to the staff of the truly excellent Select Books in Singapore who have been tireless in tracking down research sources for me, often at short notice and with unfailing good humour. It was Raimy Ché-Ross who first suggested that I explore the early colonial interactions between the British and the Malays, and who drew my attention to the materials on Mahmud Shah. I am grateful both for his extremely productive suggestions, but also for his generosity in assisting in identifying research sources. Much of my thinking regarding this thesis was shaped by two brief but extremely productive visits to Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India. My thanks go to members of that institution not just for the warmth of their welcome but for their willingness to collaborate and share ideas. I wish to especially express my gratitude towards the members of staff of the Department of International Relations who suggested and participated in a joint project with the Institute of Postcolonial Studies on postcolonial international relations. At Jadavpur’s Comparative Literature Department I extend my thanks to Dr Sibaji Bandyopadhyay for his incisive and helpful comments on my work – and for an unforgettable introduction to the Bengali tradition of adda! Many people have supported me during the writing and research of this thesis. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance, support and friendship of Ryan Ang, Andrew Chang, Shanton Chang, Mary Chapman, Brian Corbitt, Robin Duff, Joanne Evans, Eugene Francia, Richard Hewett, Isabelle Hoong, Niroshini John, Sukri Kadola, Justin Kennedy, Jim Kilpatrick, Naomichi Nishizawa, David Obendorf, Edison Oh, Jan Powell, Aditi Subbiah, Kwoh-Jack Tan, Benjamin Teh, Adrian Teo, Ming Toh, Steven Wong and Melvin Yong. Andrew Lek deserves praise for all the love, patience and encouragement he has given me, before and during the writing of my thesis. It was with Andrew’s encouragement that I first explored some of the issues in this thesis; his influence was an important factor in shaping my - vii - choice of materials and approach. Andrew continually reminds me that living between worlds is much messier and more complicated than writing between them. Fay and John Kairn provided far more than they realise in allowing me to see this thesis to conclusion. For dinners, boxes, accounting services, phone calls, hugs, coffees, the Manchester Unity Building, nights at the opera
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