2018/05/03 by Sitara Thobani · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #South Asian Cinema and Culture #Diaspora, migration, transnational identity #South Asian Studies and Diaspora
paper · doi:10.1080/01419870.2018.1468567
openalex publication_date 2018/05/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
In the 2016 US Presidential election, a small but vocal group of Hindu supporters of Donald Trump drew international media attention in India and the US for their political mobilizing for the Republican candidate. In this paper, I examine the political campaigns of “Hindus for Trump” and its affiliated groups to analyse the diverse ways in which these diasporic activists engage in and advance a number of distinct nationalist projects simultaneously. Tracing links between the “Hindus for Trump” platform, Hindutva ideology that seeks to redefine India as a Hindu nation, and the racist “alt-right” movement that forms the political base for President Trump in the US, I argue these diasporic activists enact a synergetic nationalism that has productive effects in both “home” and “host” countries. The result is the perfection of Hindutva on the global stage through the very activities that legitimize the isolationist xenophobia associated with the Trump administration.