1st Edition

Leading the Hare Krishna Movement The Crisis of Succession in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

By Angela R. Burt Copyright 2024
232 Pages
by Routledge

232 Pages
by Routledge

232 Pages
by Routledge

This book examines issues of leadership and succession in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) which was founded in by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966. After the founder’s death in 1977, the movement was led by a group of gurus in a "zonal system" until their authority was challenged and reformed in the mid-1980s. At the heart of the book is an... Read more

Acknowledgements

A note on the spelling of Sanskrit words

Glossary

List of interviewees

1. Introduction

2. The issue of succession                                                    

3. A crisis of charismatic leadership in the post-succession period

4. The routinisation of charisma: The guru reform movement

5. Experiences of disciples of the gurus and women

6. Long-term effects of the zonal acharya system and the guru reform movement

7. Hierarchy, status, and the distribution of power and authority

8. Systemic and individual issues in religious leadership in ISKCON

9. Conclusion

Bibliography

Biography

Angela R. Burt is a lecturer at the Australian Catholic University, where she teaches religion and sociology. She has documented the early history of the Hare Krishna movement in her role as project manager and researcher for the ISKCON Oral History Project since its inception in 2003. She is the author of Hare Krishna in the Twenty-First Century.