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Footnotes 

1. Despite the fact that 'culture' and its study remain at the core of the social sciences, its definition and use remain a topic of ongoing controversy (see, for example, Swidler, 1995; Wuthnow and Witten, 1988). My interests here are less with the special substance of culture (such as values, symbols, beliefs, customs for example), or what Swidler refers to as 'culture from the "inside out"' (1995:25). Instead, my approach in this paper views 'culture as operating in the contexts that surround individuals, influencing action from the "outside in"' (Swidler 1995:25). Given this orientation, a central question for a cultural interpretation of social movements is how do social movement organisations create, or perhaps fail to create, institutional structures and related social contexts that allow members to act in culturally uniform ways.
   
    
2. Many ISKCON members will reject the idea that the movement is in any sense sectarian. From their point of view, Krishna Consciousness is a universal religion that can incorporate people of all faiths. Since Max Weber introduced the terms sect and church there has been ongoing debate about the proper meaning of these concepts among scholars of religion. Following Weber, sociologists have often used various correlates to define sects as distinct from churches. Sects were thus portrayed as religious groups appealing to the lower classes, that involved great emotional fervour, and that were led by non-professional clergy who were strongly committed to evangelism. But it is the attributes of a social phenomena, not its correlates, that are the basis of definition (Stark and Bainbridge 1979:122). I define sectarian religious movements as being 'ideologically in a state of tension with the socio-cultural environments in which they operate. Sects reject the values and norms of the larger society while churches largely accommodate their beliefs to those of the dominant social order. In sum, the sect rejects society and in turn is rejected by it; the church is part of the society and in many ways simply reflects and reinforces the latter's values and goals' (Rochford 1987:11).
   
    
3. The death of ISKCON's founder, Srila Prabhupada, in 1977, did bring about conflict, factionalism, and schism. These developments, for the most part, began in 1980 (see Rochford, 1985:221-255, 1989, 1995c, forthcoming). Succession problems in America, and later in other parts of the ISKCON world, for example western Europe, did become so serious by the mid-1980s that a reform movement was able to successfully alter the guru system and ISKCON's governance structure (see R. dasa, 1994:10-16, and Rochford, forthcoming). Even with these reforms, however, controversy remains.
   
    
4. Perhaps ironically, these avoidance strategies may have only heightened awareness of the opposite sex. As this female devotee went on to explain: 'What happened to me was that all I thought about was men and saris. "There's a man. Is my sari on right? Is it the right colour? Do I have any hair showing in the front [coming out from where the sari is wrapped around the head]?" And that was all I thought about. I stopped thinking about Krishna and Prabhupada.'
   
    
5. During ISKCON's first few years in America devotees desiring marriage sought Srila Prabhupada's permission and blessing. In 1972, however, Prabhupada refused to personally sanction any further marriages. His reason was the growing number of marital problems among his disciples, including separation and divorce. In a 1972 letter he wrote, 'I am so much disgusted with this troublesome business of marriage, because nearly every day I receive some complaint from husband or wife.so henceforth I am not sanctioning any more marriages.' (Prabhupada, 1992:866.)
   
    
6. As I describe later in the paper, sankirtana, in the sense being used here, refers to the distribution of religious texts or other products in public locations for money.
   
    
7. The combination of marriage being a loss of status for men, marriages being arranged for reasons other than compatibility, and pressures to commit oneself fully to ISKCON at the expense of family responsibilities, has played a significant role in ISKCON's rate of divorce. Estimates by ISKCON members suggest that from one-third to two-thirds of all ISKCON marriages end in divorce. My 1991-92 survey found that one-third of all marriages ended in divorce, or separation. This figure is actually less than the rate of divorce within the US where one out of two marriages end in divorce (Riley, 1991:156). My findings may actually underestimate the rate of divorce since it seems likely that a greater proportion of those who defect from ISKCON are divorced from a devotee spouse. Marital and family problems represent one reason that devotees exit ISKCON, temporarily or altogether (Rochford, 1991:91). I also have no information about the number of times devotees are divorced and remarried. It is not uncommon for ISKCON members to have been married more than twice.
   
    
8. While there has been a remarkable growth in the grihasthaasrama in America this has not occurred uniformly worldwide. In Northern Europe, for example, an effort was made by some leaders to discourage marriage and family life during the 1980s to successfully establish book distribution. As one devotee who spent many years in Sweden commented: 'Because of the commitment to sankirtana, the emphasis was, "Don't marry, or marry late." Only now are they beginning to have children, although the devotees there are in their thirties. The children are like two, one [years old], just babies.' (Interview 1990).
   
    
9. There is no statistical data available on ISKCON's recruitment fortunes during the 1980s. In my early work (see Rochford, 1985:278), I presented numerical data showing how ISKCON's US recruitment took a downturn as early as 1974. Unfortunately, the strategy I used then to calculate recruitment patterns is no longer available (see Rochford, 1985:295-96). I can, however, report the following: first, it is widely acknowledged by ISKCON members that the movement has attracted few new members during the past decade (see, for example Rochford, 1992b: 3). My own observations are in keeping with this. Secondly, comparing data from the 1980 and 1991-92 surveys provides indirect evidence concerning ISKCON's recruitment fortunes. A comparison of the median age and the median year when my devotee respondents joined ISKCON suggests that little recruitment took place over this twelve year period. The median age of ISKCON's membership, in 1980, was between 26-27 years. In 1991-92 the median age had increased to between 37-38 years. During the twelve-year period between the two surveys, the median age of the movement's membership increased by almost exactly the same number of years. Equally revealing is the small change in the year that devotees reported joining ISKCON. In 1980, the median year joined was 1975. In1991-92 the median was between 1976-1977. These two findings suggest that ISKCON met with relatively little success with its efforts to attract new members during the 1980s.
   
    
10. During the 1970s and early 1980s ISKCON leaders rejected attempts by devotee businessmen to develop income producing business enterprises (Rochford, 1985:224-225, 1989:166-167). Business was viewed as 'materialistic' and, perhaps more importantly, as potentially in competition with book distribution. Ironically, during its early days in America ISKCON generated considerable revenue through the sale of incense. ISKCON's 'Spiritual Sky Scented Products' reportedly was the largest incense producer in the US during the early and mid-1970s. Despite its success, however, the company never received the backing of leaders who favoured book distribution as ISKCON's exclusive means of financial support. Because of the leadership's generally unfavourable attitude towards business, ISKCON was left without alternative means of support when book distribution revenues dropped dramatically within the span of only a few years.
    
     
11. Although far from common knowledge, Prabhupada did tell some of his senior disciples as early as 1972 that married devotees should be required to 'produce some outside income and live outside the temple' (my emphasis) (Prabhupada, 1992:866). In actual fact, neither instruction was followed. Movement leaders found reason to disregard Prabhupada's directives. First, the prevailing sentiment of the time was that any devotee who lived outside the temple community was destined to slip into maya, and thereby leave Krishna Consciousness. Secondly, Temple Presidents were reluctant to encourage devotees to gain financial independence from the movement. In addition to the loss of control this implied, it would have also reduced the number of devotees collecting money on sankirtana in support of the community.
    
     
12. The importance of a strong academic education for the second generation took on special significance after parents were forced to find employment outside of ISKCON. Parents realised that if ISKCON was unable to provide opportunities for paid employment and/or financial support for them, that their children faced a similar fate. In other words, parents felt the duty to see to it that their children were well educated and prepared to compete in the outside labour market as adults.
    
     
13. In 1975, when I began my research in the Los Angeles ISKCON community, it was considered scandalous for a householder and his family to move even blocks away from the temple community. Such a devotee was referred to as 'fringie', an appropriate description to the extent that those so characterised were looking to become more involved in the outside culture. One rarely hears this term used in ISKCON communities any longer. This, in itself, is a telling statement about the nature of ISKCON's development over the past 15 years or so.
    
     
14. These findings are based on responses to the following four Likert scale items: (a) 'Because of work and/or family obligations I am unable to commit more time to activities at the Temple' (b) 'Commitment to my family is presently more important that my commitment to ISKCON.' (c) 'I have increasingly withdrawn from ISKCON to become more involved in my family responsibilities.' and (d) 'Most devotees are only looking out for their own needs, rather than the good of the devotee community.'
    
     
15. There is some evidence to suggest that the trends reported on here are also occurring worldwide. A recent study (Rochford, 1995b) found that all but one among a sample of international ISKCON communities had more-often considerably more-congregational members, in 1994, than full-time dependent residents. It appears that this shift toward expanding congregationalism parallels the North American case-economic decline and/or the inability to meaningfully integrate family life within a communal context has altered the membership profile and community structure.
    
     
16. Space limits my ability to describe varnasrama in any detail. Varna represents four general divisions within society on the basis of occupation and social standing. Brahmanas are the spiritual leaders and educators within society; ksatriyas are administrators and protectors of a society's citizenry; vaisyas produce foodstuffs and are responsible for cow protection; and sudras are responsible for a variety of skilled and unskilled tasks including working in the fields and giving assistance to people of other varnas.Asrama refers to living arrangements that facilitate spiritual activities and growth. The brahmacari and brahmacariniashrams are for unmarried male and female renunciates committed exclusively to spiritual advancement. The grhastha asrama is a living arrangement for a husband, wife and children that allows them to structure their lives so that Krishna Consciousness remains at the centre of everyday life. The sannyasi asrama is comprised of renunciate men devoted to the life-long pursuit of spiritual learning and practice, and of full-time preaching. The vanaprastha asrama normally includes older people retired from family and work responsibilities who are able to devote their remaining days to spiritual activities. (For a more detailed discussion on varnasrama, see Prabhupada, 1974, 1992: 2525: 2571; Proceedings of the Conference on Rural Community Development 1992).

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