Tracing the Genealogy of a 'Brand New Nation'

Arup Kumar Sen

The recently published book, bearing the title 'Brand New Nation: Capitalist Dreams and Nationalist Designs in Twenty-First-Century India' (Stanford University Press, 2020; Indian Edition, Harper Business, 2021) authored by Ravinder Kaur is a seminal one. It has explored in the context of India, the emerging organic connection between capitalism and Hindu nationalism in the 21st century in imaginative ways.

In the very beginning of her discourse, the author has clarified the central theme explored in the book: "...internalisation of the market logic reconfiguring the nation-state into an enclosed commercial-cultural zone is what I call the brand-new nation: the nation revitalised and renewed as a profitable business enterprise with claims to ownership over cultural property within its territory. Thus, twentieth-century nation building is increasingly being replaced by twentieth-first-century nation branding." (pp. 8,10). How the process of nation branding is organically connected with capitalist transformation has also been clarified: "I propose that the brand new nation, recrafted and repackaged as a branded enclosure for capital in the twenty-first century, has emerged from within the structures of unbridled free markets and centralised state governance and of the spectacular imagination of utopian dream-worlds in capitalist design." (p.13)

What is the political outcome of branding the nation? To put it in the words of the author: "The capitalisation of the nation as a branded investment destination is an opportunity to at once add value to the nation by generating capital and, in doing so, gain prestige and influence in the world. The global celebration of the nation brand is even taken as an expression of national pride, fuelling hyper-nationalist movements in many parts of the postcolonial world." (p.18)

The author has argued that the 'brand new nation' emerged in a specific historical juncture: "The project of branding national territories as investment destinations began evolving into a governmental practice in the 1990s on the premise that companies and nations share similar corporate features and can be imagined, branded, and capitalised likewise." (p.21)

In the context of India, the author has narrated the mode of corporatisation of governance over time: "In Delhi and Davos, I was often introduced, with a hint of admiration, to government officials, politicians or bureaucrats as CEOs, especially the ones seen as key players in the India growth story. This informal practice of addressing political executives as CEOs gained currency with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, considered the main architect of India's economic reforms, a mantle that the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, has enthusiastically assumed." (p.36)

In the chapter titled 'Economy of Hope', the author has deconstructed the coinage 'India Shining': "In early 2004, the Indian Ministry of Finance commissioned an advertisement to invite investors worldwide to consider investment opportunities in "India Shining"-an allusion to a resource-rich India that had regained its golden shine after a long spell of colonial darkness." (p.54)

'Incredible India' is another marketing campaign deconstructed in the book. In doing so, the author has made a significant observation: "what has not been easily absorbed is India's Muslim past in Incredible India. The catalogue of images that constitutes Incredible India is a pointer in this direction. The sole exception to this rule is the presence of the Taj Mahal, now pitched as the ultimate sign of consumption and pleasure. The monument is presented in global publicity as a priceless and unattainable commodity that consumers can only dream and aspire to." (pp. 118-19)

'India Adda' at Davos, being promoted to draw the attention of global capital, has been interrogated in the book: "India Adda at Davos. was the new initiative that would finally showcase the magical effect of the fabled India story on a global scale. The first disclosure the India Adda offers concerns the power play, negotiations, and even compromises that constitute the free market. It reveals the ways in which state power and capital cohabit and even shape the contours of the fully opened-up Indian market enclave."(pp. 161, 191)

The final chapter of the book titled 'Uncommon Futures' begins with a seminal observation: "On January 23, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the world's billionaires, the celebrated captains of industry, and world leaders assembled at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The address was a highly anticipated event, it was the first time in twenty years that an Indian prime minister was present in Davos." (p. 243) In this chapter, the author has located the genealogy of a major transformation in the socio-political history of postcolonial India: "The alliance between Hindu cultural nationalism and market liberalisation began taking shape in the aftermath of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat during Narendra Modi's tenure as the state's chief minister... It also produced Brand Modi: a key feature in the life of the brand-new nation. Brand Modi is an embodiment of the entanglements between the imperatives of capitalist growth and the cultural nationalism that shapes twenty-first-century politics." (pp. 247-48) Ravinder Kaur's book has other important chapters. How the 'brand new nation' is visually represented in the media, has been brilliantly explored in the book. The author has en­lightened the readers about the economic, political, and socio-cultural dimensions of the 'brand new India' unfolding in the 21st century.  

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Frontier Autumn Number
Vol 58, No. 14 - 17, Sep 28 - Oct 25, 2025