Assoc. Prof. Lily Zubaidah Rahim

BA NSW MA NSW PhD Syd.

BACKGROUND

Lily Zubaidah Rahim is an Associate Professor in Government and International Relations. She lectures on Southeast Asian Politics and Reformist Islam. The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, (KL: Oxford University Press, 2001) established her as a leading researcher on political and social developments in Singapore. The book precipitated a public debate on Singapore’s nation-building paradigm particularly after it received prominent coverage in the Malaysian and Singaporean newspapers. The policy significance of The Singapore Dilemma led to its translation in 2004 by the Malaysian National Institute for Translation to the Malay language.

Building on the themes in The Singapore Dilemma, Lily Zubaidah’s second sole-authored book Singapore in the Malay World: Building and Breaching Regional Bridges (London: Routledge, 2009) focuses on Singapore’s mercurial relations with neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia.

She is currently engaged in a global project on gender justice and shariah reforms in Islam. Another project funded by an ARC Discovery Grant (2003-2006), led to the publication of an edited book entitled ‘Paths Not Taken’, published by the National University of Singapore Press in 2008.

A Singaporean national, Lily Zubaidah’s international exposure includes extended periods of teaching and research in Malaysia, Singapore and The Netherlands. In 2001, she presented a paper on indigenous minorities in Southeast Asia at the historic UN Conference on Racism and Public Policy in Durban, South Africa. In 2003, she was commissioned by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, to prepare a report on ethnic minorities in Singapore and Malaysia. In 2008 and 2009, she was engaged by the Asia-Europe Foundation as a consultant on ethnic tensions and inter-faith dialogue in Asia.

Her multidisciplinary research interests have been published in numerous international journals and book chapters. They include an eclectic range spanning from governance in authoritarian states, democratisation, development, ethnicity, regionalism and political Islam. She was Co-convenor of the 2008 Malaysia-Singapore Society Colloquium at the Australian National University.

RESEARCH

Research Interests

• Southeast Asia politics
• Reformist Islam
• Ethnicity
• Regionalism
• Democratisation and Development

TEACHING

Current Courses

• GOVT2119 - Southeast Asia: Dilemmas of Development
• GOVT2774 - Islam: Democracy, Development and Gender
• GOVT6108 - Democracy and Development in SE Asia

PUBLICATIONS

Books Authored and Edited

Rahim, L 2013, Muslim Secular Democracy: Voices From Within (ed), PalgraveMacmillan, New York.

Rahim, L 2009, Singapore in the Malay World; Building and Breaching Regional Bridges, Routledge, London.

Rahim, L 2001, The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.

Refereed Journal Articles

Rahim, L, 2012, "Governing Muslims in Singapore’s Secular Authoritarian State", Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 169-185.

Rahim, L & Ghobadzadeh N 2012, "Islamic Reformation Discourses: Sovereignty and Religious Secularisation in Iran", Democratization, vol. 19, no. 1, pp.334-351.

Rahim, L 1994, "Consent, Coercion and Constitutional Engineering in Singapore", Current Affairs Bulletin, vol. 70, no. 7, pp. 20-26.

Rahim, L 2008, "Fragmented Community and Unconstructive Engagements: ASEAN and Burma’s SPDC Regime", Critical Asian Studies, vol. 40, no. 1, pp 67-88.

King P & Rahim, L 2006, "Editors´ Introduction", Policy and Society (Special Issue:Asia Early this Century: Contested Polities and Mentalities), vol. 25, no. 4.

Rahim, L 2006, "Discursive Struggles Between Liberal and Literal Islam in Southeast Asia", Special Issue, 'Asia Early this Century: Contested Polities and Mentalities' Policy and Society, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 77-98.

Rahim, L 2003, "The Road Less Travelled: Islamic Militancy in Southeast Asia", Critical Asian Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 209-232.

Rahim, L 2002, "Book Review - Lee Kuan Yew: The beliefs behind the man by Barr M", Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 297-300.

Rahim, L 2000, "Economic crisis and the prospects for democratization in Southeast Asia", Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 17-45.

Rahim, L 1999, "Singapore-Malaysia Relations: Deep-Seated Tensions and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies", Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 38-55.

Rahim, L 1998, "In search of the 'Asian Way': Cultural Nationalism in Singapore and Malaysia", Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 54-74.

Book Chapters

Rahim, L 2013, 'Introduction: The Spirit of Wasatiyyah Democracy', in L. Rahim (ed), Muslim Secular Democracy: Voices From Within (ed), PalgraveMacmillan, New York.

Rahim, L 2013, 'The Crisis of State-led Islamisation and Communal Governance in Malaysia', in L. Rahim (ed), Muslim Secular Democracy: Voices From Within (ed), PalgraveMacmillan, New York.

Rahim, L 2010, "Daring to Challenge the Status Quo: The Lateral Vision and Meandering Political Journey of Left Malay Nationalists from Singapura", in R Hosking, S Hosking, N Omar & W Che Dan (eds), Reading the Malay World, Wakefield Press, South Australia.

Rahim, L 2009, "The Goh Years: A New Dawn in PAP-Malay Relations?", in B Welsh & J Chin (eds), Impressions: The Goh Years, National University of Singapore Press, Singapore.

Rahim, L 2008, "Winning and Losing Malay Support: PAP-Malay Community Relations, 1950s and 1960s", in M Barr & C Trocki (eds), Paths Not Taken, National University of Singapore Press, Singapore.

Rahim, L 2007, "(Foreword) Said Zahari – Demystifying Lee Kuan Yew´s Singapore Story", in The Long Nightmare: My 17 Years as a Political Prisoner, Utusan Publications, Kuala Lumpur.

Rahim, L 2004, "Ambivalent Regionalism in Southeast Asia" in M Falck & A Santa-Cruz (eds), Globalization, Regionalization and the Domestic Trajectories in the Pacific Rim: The Economic Impact, Universidad De Guadalajar, Guadalajara.

Rahim, L 2001, "The Political Agenda Underpinning Economic Policy Formulation in Singapore's Authoritarian Developmental State" in U Johannen & J Gomez (eds), Democratic Transitions in Asia, Select Books, Singapore.

Rahim, L 1994, "The Paradox of the Ethnic Based Self-Help Groups" in D Cunha (ed), Debating Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

Selected Conference Papers

Rahim, L 2011, "Islam and the Secular Democratic State in Southeast Asia", paper presented at the European Consortium of Political Research Conference, 24-27 August, 2011, University of Iceland, Reykjavik

Rahim, L 2009, "Governance of Islam in Singapore’s Authoritarian Secular State", paper presented at the New Modes of Governance and Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific, 12-13 February, 2009, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University.

Rahim, L 2008, "The Singa and Garuda: Undercurrents in Singapore-Indonesia Relations", paper presented at the 15th Malaysia Society Colloquium: Globalization, Regionalization and Islam, Australian National University, Canberra, 5-7 December 2008.

Rahim, L 2007, "Forgetting, Remembering and Dismembering: Nusantara Malays in the Singaporean national Imagination", paper presented at the EuroSEAS 2007 Conference, Naples, Italy,12-15 September.

Rahim, L 2004, "Daring to Challenge the Status quo: The lateral Vision and Meandering Political Journey of Progressive Malay Nationalists from Singapura", paper presented at the Representation of Malays and Malay Culture, University Putra, Serdang, Malaysia,15-17 June 2004.

Rahim, L 2004, "Kiasu Versus Catch-Up: The Politics of Economic Competition and Cooperation Between Singapore and Malaysia", paper presented at the 13th Malaysia Society Colloquium: Globalization, Regionalization and Islam, Australian National University, Canberra,26-27 December 2004.

Rahim, L 2004, "Malaysia and Singapore: Competing and Complementary Models of Nation-Building", paper presented at the Conference Theme: Beyond Vision 2020, Prime Ministers Department, Putra Jaya, Malaysia,14-14 December 2004.

Reports

Rahim, L, Palat R, Fuad M & Yang M 2001, "Civil Society in Asian Contexts", Occassional Paper, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Report Number 2001-1.