
Branding Authoritarian Nations
Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand
- Available for pre-order on June 9, 2023. Item will ship after June 30, 2023
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Book Description
Branding Authoritarian Nations offers a novel approach to the study of nation branding as a strategy for political legitimation in authoritarian regimes using the example of military-ruled Thailand.
The book argues that nation branding is as a political act that is integral to state legitimation processes, particularly in the context of authoritarian regimes. It applies its alternative reading of nation branding to eight different sectors: tourism, economy, foreign direct investment, foreign policy, education, culture, public relations and the private sector. The author explains that nation branding produces specific kinds of applied national myths, referred to as ‘strategic national myths’. She shows that nation branding is an inherently inward-looking strategy aimed at shaping the social attitudes and behaviours of the nation’s citizens in line with the government’s domestic agenda and legitimation needs.
Providing the first comprehensive analysis of nation branding in Thailand and the first book-length account of the country’s political developments since the 2014 military coup, the book is primarily aimed at academics in the disciplines of politics, international relations, communication and area studies as well as business, cultural and intercultural studies.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Chapter 1: Brand New Authoritarianism? Chapter 2: Building Thailand’s Post-Coup Brand; Chapter 3: Thailand’s External Branding; Chapter 4: Thailand’s Internal Nation Branding; Chapter 5: Public Reactions to Nation Branding; Chapter 6: From Nation Branding to Political Marketing; Conclusion
Author(s)
Biography
Petra Alderman is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Leadership for Inclusive and Democratic Politics at the International Development Department, School of Government, at the University of Birmingham, UK.