Has India relentlessly transformed into an ‘attractive investment destination’ for global capital?

Srishti.Katiyar@harpercollins.co.in | 6 August 2021

Siddhesh Inamdar, Senior Commissioning Editor, HarperCollins India, said, “Brand New Nation breaks new ground in its analysis of contemporary India. It is a book that has been receiving critical acclaim globally since it was published in the US last year. We are delighted to bring this new paperback edition for Indian readers to mark the country’s 74^th Independence Day.”

Author Ravinder Kaur said, “The main point I wanted to highlight is India’s strange current paradoxical condition – the great promise of the “India growth story” has not only failed to arrive but it has instead opened up for the rise of Hindu majoritarian politics that thrives upon social strife. How did we reach this point? My book basically suggests that this outcome is not entirely unexpected give that the form of the nation-state itself has changed in the past three decades. Post-reform India is reimagined as a commodity that can be packaged, branded and sold to investors, a “factory of the world” in making that seeks a strong leader who “means business” – business friendly and authoritarian – in more ways than one. This new entanglement between the state and capital has long been in works, and therefore, what we witness in India is a distinctive mix of market and majoritarianism; liberal economy and illiberal politics.”

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“This is an original and highly provocative book.”

—Martin Wolf, Financial Times

“In this subtle, insightful and often witty book, Ravinder Kaur shows how the ‘New India’ came into being with its distinctive mix of market and Hindu fundamentalisms, plutocracy and deprivation, mass agitation and state repression. Uncovering hidden continuities and constellations, Brand New Nation makes much mainstream analysis of India, especially one that posits Hindu supremacism as a great and unexpected rupture, look naive, and opens up fresh modes of analysis.”

—Pankaj Mishra, author of Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race, and Empire

“This book needs to be read by any and every serious student of the Indian economy.”

—Vivek Kaul, Mint

“Kaur’s eye ranges widely, and her research has been thorough. Her narrative touch is particularly deft when … describing … India pavilions at Davos, where the India-as-investment image has assiduously been cultivated by successive industrial and political elite.”

—Mihir S. Sharma, Biblio

“Ravinder Kaur convincingly argues that the era of ‘happy globalization’ is over in India and that it is largely responsible for the dominant repertoire of national-populism under Modi. It is not only the new middle class that has asserted itself after the 1991 liberalization that is very supportive of Hindu nationalism, but the aspiring categories coming from the plebeians are also finding a sense of belonging in Hindutva politics. Kaur’s book is a truly remarkable exploration of the unintended political consequences of economic developments, as in India capitalism and religious national-populism have clear affinities.”

—Christophe Jaffrelot, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

“Brand New Nation skillfully draws the larger connections between rebranding for the foreign investor and what it asks of the internal audience, and how in the process citizens’ political imaginations are reshaped.”

—Anagha Ingole, The India Forum

“Brand New Nation evocatively captures the zeitgeist of the glory days of globalization. From the perspective of the present, where demonetization, GST and the lockdown have destroyed people’s livelihoods, India is neither rising nor shining. Crony capitalism reigns. Perhaps that was the subliminal text in the messaging: the idea that India is For Sale.”

—Amita Baviskar, Outlook

“Brand New Nation offers a new, enriching, and also, counter-intuitive perspective … This important book is a must-read.”

—Roshan Kishore, Hindustan Times

“Kaur peels off layers and layers of contemporary Indian history to prove, on her own terms, that the ‘manifestation of Hindu cultural nationalism and market liberalization’ owe their dominance to each other … Following the course of Kaur’s arguments is a sheer treat.”

—Ullekh N.P., Open magazine

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ravinder Kaur is Associate Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She is the author of Since 1947: Partition Narratives among the Punjabi Migrants of Delhi (2007, 2018).