Review: Branding Bhakti: Krishna Consciousness and the Makeover of a Movement, by Nicole Karapanagiotis

Abstract

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishnas, experienced a series of problems following abuse allegations and lawsuits between the 1970s and 1990s. Branding Bhakti traces ISKCON’s response to these challenges in the twenty-first century. Utilizing ethnographic material and digital archives, Nicole Karapanagiotis explains how ISKCON shifted its demographic to alter public perceptions and expand its funding base. In the process, the group became a primarily Indian diasporic movement, something scholars of the movement call the “Hinduization of ISKCON” (11). Karapanagiotis skillfully examines the complex dynamic of a movement that originated in India with the specific mission of spreading throughout North America and Europe that eventually alienated its target converts. Paradoxically, it then had to rely on members of the Indian diaspora to survive, but in doing so moved away from the intentions of its founder. A central problem for the contemporary movement thus became how to appeal to “Westerners,” its label for non-Hindus primarily in the English-speaking world.Enter the “Krishna Branders” to the rescue. This is Karapanagiotis’ term for the leaders of the movement who arise after the founder’s death and following the organizational failures and abuse scandals. The book analyzes three main leaders and their strategies to rebrand ISKCON—as a meditative social club, as the “heart of yoga,” or as a parallel movement for those raised outside of Hinduism called “Krishna West.” The Krishna Branders are at odds as to whether their strategies should serve as bridges to temple worship of Krishna or should reinvent what ISKCON is in its essence. Karapanagiotis shows how each strategy has varying levels of success but concludes that these efforts are largely ineffective. Moreover, if they were rewarding, they could generate splinter movements. Those who comprise the main body of followers of ISKCON, and provide significant financial backing, do not want ISKCON to become what the Krishna Branders and older generation of ISKCON want it to be. The remaining White Hare Krishnas from the 1970s and 1980s want change, unlike the South Asian believers, who now see ISCKON as a movement primarily for the Hindu diaspora.Branding Bhakti is a well-argued book and a fascinating case study of how a religious movement reinvents itself and then fails to achieve its desired diversity. The issues of cultural appropriation are particularly intriguing. The main intention of founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was to spread Krishna worship to the West. This meant convincing people in Europe and America to adopt an Indian deity, form of worship, and style of dress. But today, Westerners seem particularly resistant to changing cultural modes of worship. Nevertheless, the decontextualized yoga and meditation practices of the rebranded ISKCON do have appeal. But this is not Krishna Consciousness as conceived by the majority of ISKCON members. How can a movement rebrand itself to achieve diversity without losing what it means to those who already support and practice it? It is an interesting philosophical question that Karapanagiotis addresses using literature from the sociological theory on the routinization of charisma as well as marketing studies.The similarities Karapanagiotis draws between religious groups and multilevel marketing (MLM) are absorbing yet seem to support the accusation that ISKCON is a manipulative cult, using deception to draw in followers and then keep them in a program other than what they signed up for. How a new religious movement is different from an MLM is a larger question and hinges on the presence of deities and belief in an otherwise voluntary institution. The aim of joining is different in a new religion, where followers are not joining to make money as they are in an MLM, but to pursue spiritual or religious practices. These nuances are underexamined by Karapanagiotis, who discusses the marketing, branding, and deceptive advertising practices of ISKCON as if the group is unproblematically analogous to a business. Also missing is direct evidence from members of the Indian diaspora, who make up the majority of ISKCON’s contemporary adherents. Their opinions are given in oblique form on a single page, asserting only what they “must” and “likely” think (46). This feels like an ethnographic blind spot in an otherwise rigorously researched study.This book will clearly be very useful for scholars of new religions, who will make up the majority of those wanting to know what happened with ISKCON after the lawsuits and scandals of the 1970s and 1980s. Students and scholars of religion and marketing in general will also find this book worth reading. However, it will also appeal more widely to a general audience because it is a well written and carefully argued study.