BJP’s philatelic reimagining
Envisioning a Hindu nation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19224547 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Manu Sharma (0000-0001-7339-7780, Independent researcher, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Commonwealth and Comparative Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1466-2043 • E-ISSN: 1743-9094 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14662043.2026.2672197 |
| OpenAlex | W7162246598 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 23 |
This paper explores how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), since coming to power in 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has redefined the ‘symbolic repertoires’ of India’s official nationalism using the visual iconography of postage stamps issued by the Department of Posts. Stamps are excellent primary data for analysis since they are the official product of a state and its agencies. The 2014 election marked a paradigm shift in Indian politics, alongside a radical transformation in the sights, sounds, and vocabularies of everyday life, particularly in relation to the discourse on national identity and nation-building. A content analysis of postage stamps issued from 2014 to 2020 reveals a statist push towards consolidating visual iconography centred on India’s civilisational past, with recurring themes of Hindu national identity and a neoliberal discourse on development
Ethnic group · Hinduism · Indigenous · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy
Screening Hindutva
Remembering to forget
Historical revisionism in contemporary India
Populist Visual Communication
Narendra Modi’s makeover and the politics of symbolism
Mr. Modi Goes to Delhi
Food for thought
Postage stamps as sites of public history in South Asia
Modi à la mode
Summitry as populist performance
Visualizing finland
Resolving the Theseus Paradox at the Cusp of Independence
The Aesthetic Turn in International Political Theory
Making of Selfie Nationalism
The narratives and aesthetics of the civilizational state in the ‘new’ India
Crown, communication and the colonial post
Tiny transmitters of nationalist and colonial ideology
Mann Ki Baat
MarketizingHindutva
Rāmāyaṇa and Political Imagination in India
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |