In Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, regional legislators (Members of the Legislative Assembly) are increasingly wealthy and coming from business backgrounds. Based on an analysis of MLAs’ affidavits, qualitative interviews and observations conducted between 2021 and 2024, this presentation aims to explain the rise of “businessmen-politicians” in these states, to analyze their profiles, specific practices and […]
Papers
When parties want to pay : comparing party-candidate linkage(s) and centralisation across India
This article investigates how party finance shapes party-candidate linkages, focusing on two critical dimensions: candidate selection and candidate turnover. Existing research on ethnic clientelist democracies highlights ethnic proximity and wealth as key factors in candidate selection. In India, studies suggest that parties disproportionately rely on wealthy candidates to fund elections. This financial dependency constrains candidate […]
Shaping Young Minds: Advertisements in Urdu Children’s Periodicals from late colonial North India
Urdu children’s periodicals from the late colonial period to Independence provide a valuable archive for exploring the intersection of identity formation, pedagogy, and consumerism. This paper focuses on three influential twentieth-century Urdu children’s magazines – Phūl (Lahore, est. 1909), Ghunchah (Bijnor, est. 1922), and Payām-e Taʿlīm (Delhi, est. 1926) – and comparatively analyses their use […]
Repackaging Tradition: Ayurveda and the Shaping of National Identity in Marathi Advertising
This paper situates advertisements of health and wellness products, such as medicines and tonics, in Marathi-language publications from the 1920s up to the 1940s within the broader entanglements of nation-building, emergent modernity, and evolving consumer preferences in Western India. This period, which coincided with the progress of secular nationalism across the Indian subcontinent, also witnessed […]
Periodicals as Archives: Book, Services and Goods Advertisements in the Hindi Public Sphere (early Twentieth Century)
South Asian print cultures shaped reading publics and modern identities across British India. This panel turns to the literal margins of regional periodicals to explore what paratextual elements may tell us about the formation of not only national, but also (trans)/regional and global networks formed through advertisements. Many South Asian periodicals of the early twentieth […]
Modern Girl Imagery in Tamil Magazines: Gender, Advertising, and Consumer Culture in the Swadesamitran Illustrated Weekly (1931-1945).
The Swadesamitran Illustrated Weekly was among the first illustrated Tamil magazines and, upon its launch in the 1930s, could have rivalled global publications with its diverse content, abundant photographs, and extensive advertisements. This previously unexplored periodical offers valuable insights into shifting identities of women during the late colonial period in Tamil-speaking India. This paper examines […]
Drinking ‘Indian Tea’ in Assam: An analysis of tea advertisements in the Assamese language (1926-1940)
This paper analyses a campaign for ‘Indian tea’ in three Assamese newspapers and periodicals from 1926 to 1940. There was no mention of ‘Assam Tea’ in these campaigns. Tea was promoted for its low cost—it was ‘the cheapest’ beverage available in India—even though by that time, ‘Assam tea’ was among the most expensive and sought […]
Print, Products, and Patriotism: Decoding Advertising Culture and National Identity in The Modern Review, 1907-1947
Between 1907 and 1947, Modern Review functioned not only as an intellectual crucible for Indian nationalism but also as a marketplace of ideas, desires, and anxieties, mediated through its advertisements. While the journal’s essays and editorials have been extensively studied for their role in shaping nationalist discourse, its advertisements offer a parallel, and at times, […]
Gold Jewelry for Financial Crisis: The Moral Economies of Women’s Magazines (1930s.-1940s.)
This paper examines the role of advertisements in shaping the moral economy of three women’s magazines – Khātūn-e Mashriq, ‘Ismat, Chānd – published in Urdu and in Hindi between 1930 and 1950. These magazines gained widespread popularity across northern India – and even beyond – by building enduring readership while employing different financial schemes. From […]
Whatsapp University’ phenomenon: from reels to real
Misinformation is an important tool for inciting hatred. In India, the term ‘Whatsapp University’ has found popularity in the past few years. The term refers to the phenomenon of misinformation being spread through WhatsApp. This paper explores the role of the ‘WhatsApp University’ in disseminating hatred in India. It will outline what ‘WhatsApp University’ is, […]
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