[ecrea] new book Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood

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Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood



By Daya Kishan Thussu



Global Public Diplomacy Series, Palgrave/Macmillan, New York, 230 Pages, 
October 2013



ISBN: 9781137027887. Order online at www.palgrave.com





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

Dr Daya K. Thussu

Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media 
Centre

Department of Journalism and Mass Communications

School of Media, Arts and Design

University of Westminster

Northwick Park, Harrow, HA1 3TP

Tel: +44(0)207911 5000 Ext: 4157   Fax: +44(0)2079115943

(D.K.Thussu /at/ westminster.ac.uk)

www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/media/camri/research-staff/thussu,-daya



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