Description
Book SynopsisUnpacks the histories, actors and geopolitics of India's soft power and evolving engagements with Africa. Since independence India has deployed its soft power in Africa, with educational aid and capacity-building at the heart of its Africa policy. However, following economic liberalisation and in a quest for greater global influence, India's geopolitics have changed. The country's discourse on Africa has shifted from the mantras of post-colonial solidarity and South-South Cooperation, and there is now a growing sense of Indian exceptionalism, as the country reimagines its past and future against the growing influence of the political right. In this book scholars from India, Africa, Europe and North America show how India's soft power has been implemented by the diaspora, government and private sector. Research documents how India's 'aid' has been re-thought in major schemes such as e-global education and health, Gandhi statuary and Covid-19 diplomacy in Africa.
Trade ReviewIndia's Development and Soft Power Diplomacy in Africa is a remarkable effort. The merits of the book are many. The volume brings together scholars from several disciplines...Each contribution is crisp and well researched -- Vineet Thakur * Africa *
This slim, affordable volume achieves what edited books often do not-consistent high quality and connective arguments across chapters that make important contributions to a growing field. * African Studies Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: India-Africa Now: Changing Imaginaries and Knowledge Paradigms Meera Venkatachalam and Kenneth King PART 1: The Geopolitical Imaginary and Soft Power 1. India's Soft Power in East Africa: Opportunities and Challenges Muhidin J. Shangwe 2. Between Business and Balance: India-Japan in Africa vis-à-vis China Mrittika Guha Sarkar and Jagannath Panda PART 2: The Indian Political Right and the Reconfiguration of Soft Power in Africa 3. The Indian Political Right, Soft Power, and the Reimagination of Africa Meera Venkatachalam 4. Modi and the Mahatma - The Politics of Statues and the Saffronisation of India-Africa relations Simona Vittorini PART 3: Capacity building: Shifting Modalities and New Knowledgescapes 5. India's Changing Human Resource Diplomacy with Africa, and Africa's Responses Kenneth King 6. A Shining Example: Modelling Growth in India's Pan-African e-Network Vincent Duclos 7. Partnership in Times of Pandemic: India's Covid Diplomacy with a Lens on Africa Supriya Roychoudhury and Emma Mawdsley PART 4: Skilling, Knowledge Transfer, and Indo-African Interactions 8. Precarious Partnerships: Tanzanian Entrepreneurs of Asian and African Descent Jacqueline Halima Mgumia and Chambi Chachage 9. The Trumpets and Travails of South-South Cooperation: African Students in India since the 1940s Gerard McCann Conclusion: Reflections on India-Africa Studies, Development Cooperation, and Soft Power Kenneth King and Meera Venkatachalam
