South Asia in Motion. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2020. 346 pp. (B&W photos.) US$28.00, paper. ISBN 978-1-5036-1259-4.
This book attempts to unfold the logic of the rise of India in the twenty-first century and tells us how advertisements and campaigns have played an indispensable role in building up India’s success story worldwide. Advertisements and campaigns have played a significant role in shaping public opinion towards India, both inside and outside the country. India’s story, which has been sold through advertisements, has been made up of “capitalist dreams” that have to be achieved through “nationalist designs.” The nationalist design disproportionality incorporates cultural symbols from Hinduism—fuelling the notion of Hindu nationalism; and hence, that capitalism and Hindu nationalism have been feeding each other.
Though the book is exploratory in nature, it is based on extensive fieldwork. Its author Ravinder Kaur seems to be narrating multiple stories interlinked with one another in the book’s three main sections, each divided into two chapters. The first section, “Dreamworlds,” seems to focus on solving the old puzzle about how the liberalization of the Indian economy has yet to benefit the masses, yet the masses do not oppose liberalization, since they have been told through advertisements that their country’s economy, as well as their own, has been improving. The second section, “New Time,” not only traces the genealogy of advertisements but also explains how its techniques have been applied to the Indian nation-state and the people in the last two decades. Advertising techniques have been deployed to brand the Indian nation-state to sell in the global market to attract investment in Davos; and to do so, slogans such as “Incredible India” and “Made in India” have been invented. This book traces the evolutionary history of such slogans, making it an important resource material for research.
The third section, “Anxiety,” is about the transition through which the Indian state has been going. The first transition was from colonialism to decolonization and the second transition from a mixed economy to neo-liberalism, which we are witnessing now. Kaur argues that the makers of the modern Indian nation belonged to the last century, whereas the branders of the modern Indian nation belong to this century (34–35). Therefore, the focus of leadership has shifted from nation-building to brand-building. However, the branders of the nation have been facing a dualism, since the previous narrative was about how colonialism had looted the Indian subcontinent, thereby keeping the country underdeveloped and poverty-ridden. However, now the narrative being sold is that India is a land of opportunity due to its abundant natural resources. This narrative raises a pertinent question: How can a country remain a land of opportunity full of abundant resources if it was looted so badly? This question not only erodes the power of the moral high ground that Indians have taken in the past, but also relieves Western capitalism from colonial guilt.
The final section concerns the construction of the image of the common man in post-colonial India, while also telling how the strategy to counter branding and campaigning of one regime can be counterproductive in the long run. The author narrates the story of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which launched a counter campaign with the question: “What did ‘common man’ (Aam Adami) get’ against the ‘Feel Good’ slogan of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)?” The UPA dethroned the NDA, but the question it raised not only remained alive in the minds of the people, but generated another interrelated question about how the common man might get his due share. The real solution of said questions is not limited to just changing the political power in terms of the party, but the march of the common man to take control of the state. The march of the common man has been reflected in the Anna Hazare movement that resulted in the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the emergence of Narendra Modi at the national level.
The common man in the India of old was projected as a bystander, but in the new India, the projection is not that of bystander, but of a driver of one’s own destiny. Media organizations such as India Today have launched extensive campaigns—“Lead India” and “Bleed India”—since 2009; through which an underlined answer of said questions was provided; namely, that without taking control with their own hands, the common man will be unable to get rid of his miseries. But who could be the common man since various shades of common man had been popular in different regions of the country? The person who emerged to best fit in the shoes of the common man was Narendra Modi, since he is a non dynastic, humble chai wala (tea seller), not educated in elite educational institutions, speaks in vernacular languages, wears all kinds of dresses, says unconventional things, and so on. The emergence of this version of the common man has taken a back seat to the idea of the silent revolution which has led to the rise of politicians from marginalized castes and communities.
Although this book is based on extensive fieldwork, reading between the lines is not enough for understanding this book’s meanings and objectives; an understanding of the complexities of Indian politics is also required. Even so, Brand New Nation is an essential read for the researchers and students working on the liberalization of the Indian economy, the rise of Hindu nationalism, and campaign management.
Arvind Kumar
Royal Halloway, University of London, Surrey