Petra Alderman, "Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand" (Routledge, 2023)

Feb 1, 2024

Petra Alderman, author of 'Branding Authoritarian Nations', explores how a military junta deployed nation-branding to promote domestic political legitimacy in military-ruled Thailand. She discusses the convergence of business and politics in nation branding, the influence of branding on citizens, and the branding efforts of the military regime in Thailand. The podcast also delves into the post-election period and rebranding efforts in Thailand.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Nation Branding and its Relationship to Political Marketing, Public Diplomacy, and Authoritarianism

01:49 • 11min

Branding a Nation and its Influence on Citizens

13:11 • 4min

Nation Branding and the Military Regime in Thailand

17:01 • 12min

The Continuing Story of Thai Nation Branding

29:25 • 3min

What does nation-branding mean to you? For many listeners, the term probably conjures up ideas of catchy slogans and international tourism or trade promotion campaigns. Think again. In her new book Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand (Routledge, 2023), Petra Alderman examines how a military junta deployed nation-branding in the wake of the May 2014 Thai coup d'état, as means of promoting domestic political legitimacy for a regime that had seized power by force. The junta's methods might have appeared 'soft' - avuncular ranging from prime ministerial broadcasts to catchy rap songs - but the goals were deeply authoritarian, and primary audience for the campaigns were not global investors, but ordinary Thai citizens. Thailand has been by no means unique in deploying the rhetoric of nation-branding in service of suppressing human rights and quashing domestic dissent.

Petra Alderman is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Leadership for Inclusive and Democratic Politics and a Research Fellow with the Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR), International Development Department, University of Birmingham, UK. She works in the areas of democracy, authoritarianism, elections, environmental leadership, and promotional politics, has a geographical focus on Southeast Asia, and is fluent in Thai.

Petra was previously a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen, and her articles have appeared in Asian Studies Review, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Geopolitics, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, and Politics. She can be contacted at p.alderman@bham.ac.uk

Duncan McCargo is Professor of Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and is best known for his work on the politics of Thailand. Duncan can be reached at duncan.mccargo@ntu.edu.sg.

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