Krishna in the West: Key issues in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness after the death of the founder. Presented at Religious Transformation in Asian History Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, April 2016.

The period following the death of the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in 1977 constituted a turbulent period in its development when eleven members took on the role of spiritual and institutional leaders in the organization. Debates ensued regarding whether they were the legitimate successors to the founder, culminating in a period of leadership reform in the mid-1980s. The organization then settled into a less turbulent rhythm, and changes in the organization included a shift from a predominantly Western membership to a substantial Indian-Hindu congregation. In 2014 a new preaching initiative, Krishna West, was initiated to reverse this shift. Key themes include authority, legitimacy, institutional reform, the coming together of Indian and Western values, and tradition and modernity. Krishna West has been a divisive issue amongst ISKCON members, and how it is dealt with will determine how the institution moves forward in the 21st century.