Much attention has been focused on Singapore's attempt to use information technology to build a knowledge-based economy. This paper examines the implications of the unintended consequences of the Internet in the restructuring of state and society relations in Singapore. We use the data on Singapore-based and Singapore-related websites to show (a) the diversity of positions expressed by civil society organizations, fringe groups and even mainstream segments of society; (b) the negotiation process between the state and civil society over various rights and how developments in cyber-space have implications for 'reality'; (c) how censorship and content regulation itself is a more complex multi-dimensional process such that while local politics is regulated, the multi-ethnic character of the resident population has led to greater religious tolerance such that religious groups banned in some countries have found a safe haven in Singapore and have used the city-state as a strategic Internet node.

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In this article, the politics of the international division of intellectual labour in an age of globalization is examined. Despite globalization of a number of ideas and institutions, the landscape of knowledge production in the social sciences continues to be dominated by scholars located in developed countries. One characteristic of the prevailing division of intellectual labour is the fact that the knowledge produced by scholars in the developed societies is deemed to be ‘theoretical’ and of universal applicability. Conversely, social scientific knowledge produced by scholars from developing societies is usually relegated to the status of empirical case studies with presumably little general analytical value. The social factors behind this state of affairs and some of the consequences are examined in the article.

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