Understanding Propaganda: A Study of Media in Contemporary India

“Arani Basu has done an excellent job in excavating the ‘propaganda infrastructure’ and instruments used in Indian media and its desired consequences. One of its best features is that it provides the tools for students and policy experts to acquire a critical view of the far-ranging impact of media in contemporary times.” (Biswajit Das, Professor (Retd.) & Founding Director, Centre for Culture, Media& Governance, Jamia Millia islamia, New Delhi)

“The book powerfully documents the instrumentalization of propaganda in contemporary India. Through Islamophobia’s imprint on media, religious processions, elections, popular culture, and diaspora digital practices, he unpacks affective speech and identity politics. A challenging yet essential book, it offers critical insights into the entanglements of media, power, and politics today.” (Christiane Brosius, Professor, Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University)

“Arani Basu’s fascinating analysis in “Understanding Propaganda” uncovers how India’s media landscape breeds hate and normalizes authoritarianism. A powerful guide for anyone seeking to grasp the mechanics of propaganda today.” (Frank Welz, Former President of the European Sociological Association and Professor, University of Innsbruck)

“Basu’s book incisively shows how “propaganda” and “manufacturing consent” remain vital for analyzing India under the BJP, 2014–2024. It unpacks how television and digital platforms together sustain state power and shape political communication, offering a critical lens on democracy, media, and consent in transitional regimes.” (Nadja-Christina Schneider, Professor, Gender and Media Studies for the South Asian Region, Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Understanding Propaganda: A Study of Media in Contemporary India critically interrogates the subject of media propaganda in India. Situating the rich and varied global scholarship on propaganda within the Indian context, this book argues that mainstream media in India functions less as a watchdog of democracy and more as a conduit for the ideological narratives of the ruling regime. Central to this study is the formulation of a concept the author terms “propaganda infrastructure”, a structural, institutional, and affective network that enables the normalization of exclusionary and authoritarian narratives. While rooted in the Indian experience, this framework offers valuable insights for understanding media complicity in authoritarian regimes globally.

Through a rigorous engagement with conceptual frameworks and grounded empirical analysis, the book reveals how Indian media systematically echoes and amplifies the tenets of Hindu nationalism, promotes anti-minority worldviews, and sustains a climate of Islamophobia. Each chapter draws on empirical illustrations emerging through primary data that demonstrate how key features of propaganda such as repetition, emotional manipulation, enemy construction, and manufactured consent are deeply woven into the fabric of polymedia in contemporary India ranging from television to social media.

This book is essential reading for scholars, journalists, students, and citizens concerned with democracy, media ethics, and the growing convergence between state power and information systems in the digital age.

Arani Basu teaches Sociology and Social Anthropology at Krea University.