Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood
By Daya Kishan Thussu
Global Public Diplomacy Series, Palgrave/Macmillan, New York,
230 Pages, October 2013
Book Description
In recent years, India has emerged as a major economic and
political power: on the basis of purchasing-power parity, it was the world’s
third largest economy in 2012. Yet the country’s cultural influence outside
India has not been adequately analysed in academic discourses. As the world’s
largest democracy with a vibrant and pluralist media system, India offers an
excellent case study of the power of culture and communication in the age of
mediated international relations. This book, a pioneering attempt, from an
international communication/media perspective, is aimed to fill the existing
gap in scholarship in this area. The discussion of India’s rising soft power is
located within a historical context, thus problematizing the notion of Soft
Power itself. The book is aimed at university courses on global
media/international relations/area studies - among others.
About the Author
Daya Kishan Thussu is Professor of International Communication and the
Co-Director of the India Media Centre at the University of Westminster in
London. With a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, he is the founder and Managing Editor of the Sage journal Global
Media and Communication. Among his key publications are: Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (Sage, 2012); Internationalizing
Media Studies (Routledge, 2009); News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global
Infotainment (Sage, 2007); Media on
the Move: Global Flow and Contra-Flow (Routledge, 2007); International Communication - Continuity and
Change, third edition (Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming); and Electronic
Empires - Global Media and Local Resistance (Arnold, 1998).
Contents
Introduction
1 De-Americanizing Soft Power
2 Historical Context of India’s
Soft Power
3 India Abroad: the Diasporic
Dividend
4 Software for Soft Power
5 Culture as Soft Power –
Bollywood and Beyond
6 Branding India – a
Public-Private Partnership
Conclusion
References
Endorsements
‘Those acquainted with Daya Thussu as the editor of the
respected journal Global Media
and Communication and his
earlier publications will not be surprised by this excellent, comprehensive yet
brief survey of the scope and limits of India’s Soft Power and the country’s
changing status in global public culture and media. This book will remain a
powerful aid to scholars and researchers seeking clues to the many
undercurrents in India’s definition of its global presence and the projection
of that self-definition through its public diplomacy.’ Professor Ashis Nandy,
Senior Honorary Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
‘Daya Thussu elegantly places India’s Soft Power in its
historical and cultural framework, deftly managing the geopolitical
and technological context. His analysis is innovative and persuasive, as is fitting in telling a grand tale of a
grand Indian narrative’. Professor
Monroe Price, Director, Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg
School for Communication, University of
Pennsylvania, USA
‘Daya Thussu’s Communicating
India's Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood rescues
the concept of soft power from American hands and applies it insightfully to
India, and the concept is made richer and more useful as a result. With
its dynamic and prosperous diaspora, the growing global popularity of its
spiritual beliefs and practice, its reach as a global economic and
technological powerhouse, and even its cherished cuisine, India’s growing soft
power potential is evident. Yet Thussu also takes a hard look at the
impediments that stand in the way of India taking full advantage of its soft
power appeal. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in broadening
their understanding of the role of soft power in foreign affairs.’ Professor Steven Livingston, Professor of
Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs, George Washington
University, USA
‘A
balanced, learned and historically informed analysis of India’s global presence
and the soft power that accompanies it. The book contains many important
insights and should be of value to decision makers and general public alike.’ Lord Bhikhu Parekh, Emeritus Professor,
University of Westminster, UK
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