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...
University of California Press