The Emergence of Brand-Name Capitalism in Late Colonial India

A landmark contribution in the history of global capitalism, Haynes crafts an aesthetic visual archive of the modern professional advertising world in colonial western India. The book’s phenomenal textual analysis of advertisements in various languages and cities is indispensable for scholarship on urban middle classes, modern conjugality, gender relations, consumption practices, masculinities, medicine and sexual sciences. * Charu Gupta, Professor of History, University of Delhi, India * By showing how advertisements for consumer products drew upon and reinforced ideas about family and conjugality, Haynes connects the history of business with the making of a middle class in India. This is a path-breaking book, not least for the novel material analysed with insight and elegance. * Tirthankar Roy, Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics, UK * In this rich cultural history, Haynes traces how advertisers in India interwove global commodity trends and localized concerns, responding to and shaping new ideas of gender and family. Where other scholars have analyzed individual ads to explore ideas of health, modernity or class, Haynes draws out in compelling detail where and why ads took the form they did, connecting culture and commerce, capital and politics. * Abigail McGowan, Professor of History, University of Vermont, USA * With its choice of visual material, discussion of middle class conjugalities, and a journey into the intimate worlds of brand-name commodities, this book paves a new path for the future of business histories in general. * Business History Review * This brilliant book adds fresh perspectives on South Asian history by foregrounding visual culture, modernity, conjugality, and consumerism. The book is an important contribution to business history, and the history of capitalism in a colonial context. The book will not only appeal to scholars and students, but also non-academic readers interested in histories of consumption culture, marketing and advertising, health, sexuality and the modern family. * H-Soz-Kult * Brand-Name Capitalism is a major contribution to Indian social and economic history. Richly illustrated with many examples of advertisements culled from newspapers and the archives of advertising companies, the book also contributes to the literature on the history of India’s visual culture. Through painstaking archival research, Haynes has collated and insightfully analysed a wealth of material, providing new insights into the social history of the urban middle class as well as the history of capitalism in India. * Indian Economic and Social History Review * The Emergence of Brand-Name Capitalism in Late Colonial India is a fascinating history at the intersections of histories of capitalism, advertising, modernity, and colonialism in India. * Cultural and Social History *