George Wong

About

Educator, Ethnographer, Enabler

An urban political sociologist and ethnographer by training, I work at the intersections of urban governance, community development, urban cultures, and collaborative urbanisms in making urban political lives and aspirations possible. My life's work is immersing in contemporary urban communities of all shapes and sizes to find out what they need and do to sustain our common goals for better urban futures.

My research focuses on 3Cs: Cities, Communities and Capital. My work takes me on a journey into a plethora of sites, ranging from urban community development and placemaking projects at the neighborhood level, to cultural engagements and consumption of/through urban pop cultures to foster community integration and acceptance. I also examine the role of public and private concessionary capital (philanthropy) in shaping community development in Asia.

My research also delves into urban political ecology where I explore the relationships between urban sustainability regimes and local communities within East and Southeast Asian cities. I am intrigued by how sustainability agendas and projects are framed and negotiated by regime actors in the public, private and people sectors who define new discourses that legitimise certain political goals. I ground my investigation around cases such as eco-cities development, and empirical instances concerning communities' demand and desires for various ecological rights to the city.

As an educator, I deeply resonate with the teaching approach of 'learnable moments', or the transformative learning opportunities and experiences offered in higher education. I am also a proponent of research and higher education going hand-in-hand in nurturing publics and denizens who are capable of making informed and impactful decisions in their public and private lives. My teaching approach of 'learning moments' encapsulates this synergy in transforming actionable educational inquiry into purposeful insights and impact.

I am currently Assistant Professor of Sociology (Education) at the Singapore Management University (SMU)​. My journey gets me plugged into Asia as a community organiser across cities such as Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Nara and Seoul. These are where I study local community actions firsthand as I work with the people who embody them. Through my participation, I interact with folks from all walks of life as we co-create new solutions for a shared future.

I am based in Singapore, where I call my inspiration, lab and home.

Educator

I am currently the Coordinator for the Global Asia Second Major Programme and Assistant Professor of Sociology (Education) at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University.

I teach courses in the field of Urban and Political Sociology, Asian Urbanisms, Community Powers and Development, Philanthropy and Social Impact, and Urban Political Ecology, with over 11 years of teaching and course design experience in higher learning and executive education sector. I am also versed in the field of Singapore Studies, with a focus on social and community policies and practices.

My teaching approach centers on designing learnable moments through community-engaged and service learning, grounded immersion, and interdisciplinary social theory.

5,000+

25

Unique Courses Taught

Students Taught in Higher Education

Ethnographer

Immersion is my research craft, and I deeply resonate with the practice of bringing the fields and the works that speak about them closer together as a Urban and Political Sociologist, as well as an ethnographer.

I have spent over 10 years studying all sorts of urban communities alongside the places they belong, in order to understand what makes communities a vital part of our contemporary urban living in Asia. I am also intrigued by how communities engage in placemaking to produce actual spaces for their social relations and existence. By working with the urban ground, I learn how communities sustain their collective aspirations of transforming cities into just spaces for those who inhabit them.

In the course of doing so, my journey also embraces the interdisciplinary characteristics of lived experiences in Asia, and my research reflects them at the intersections of 3C: Cities, Communities and Capital.

Check out my works here

Enabler

Let's Build Versatile Communities Together

Keen to collaborate or know how I can be of help?

I am open to research, education or speaking opportunities, including research supervision in related areas. Reach out for more info.