Scholarship on the Brahma Kumaris has increased greatly in the last ten to fifteen years. Below is a selective bibliography of research articles written about the Brahma Kumaris. If you know of any articles that are not included here, please contact us.  

Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to publish the articles here. However, if there is one you would like, please contact us and we may be able to send you one available for your personal use.

Recent Publications

Ramsay, Tamasin (2020). "Making a Model of Madhuban: The Brahma Kumaris’ Journey to and Presence in Europe." Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols). Brill, 528-554.

Smith, Wendy, and Tamasin Ramsay (2019). "Spreading Soul Consciousness." Globalizing Asian Religions. Amsterdam University Press, 205-234.

References (Selective)

Arweck, Elisabeth, Clarke, Peter B. (1997) New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography, Greenwood Press.

Babb, L. A. (1986). Amnesia and Remembrance Among the Brahma Kumaris. In L. A. Babb (Ed.), Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition (pp. pp. 93-155). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Barz, R. K. (1988). The Re-interpretation of Bhakti Theology: From the Pushtimarg to the Brahma Kumaris. In R. S. Macgregor (Ed.), Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research 1985-1988. (pp. pp. 298-313). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Boyle, Kevin., & Sheen, Juliet. (Eds.). (1997). Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report. London: Routledge.

Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006). New Religions in Global Perspective: A Study of Religious Change in the Modern World London: Routledge.

Clarke, Peter., Sutherland, Stewart (1991) The Study of Religion, Traditional and New Religions, Routledge

Dillon, Michele. A Handbook of the Sociology of Religion (2003), Book by; Cambridge University Press

Fenton, John. Y. (1995). South Asian Religions in the Americas  An Annotated Bibliography of Immigrant Religious Traditions: Greenwood Books.

Hadden, J. K., & Shupe, A. (1988). The Politics of Religion and Social Change: Religion and the Political Order Vol 2. New York: Paragon House.

Hodgkinson, Liz. Peace and Purity: The Story of the Brahma Kumaris a Spiritual Revolution

Howell, J. D. (1998). Gender Role Experimentation in New Religious Movements: Clarification of the Brahma Kumaris Case. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(3), pp. 453-461.

Howell, J. D. N., P. L. (1997). Structural Adaptation and "Success" in the Transplantation of an Asian New Religious Movement: The Brahma Kumaris in the Western World, Part 1. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 8, pp. 1-33.

Howell, J. D. N., P. L. (2000). Demographic Change and Secularisation in an Asian New Religious Movement: The Brahma Kumaris in the Western World, Part II. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 11, pp. 225-239.

Hunt, Stephen. J. (2003). Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction: Ashgate Publishing.

Kościańska, Agnieszka. (2010). Non-Feminist Women's Groups. The Brahma Kumaris Movement.  Ethnologie Francaise 40 (2):257-265. 

Kościańska,, Agnieszka. (2008). On Celibate Marriages: Conversion to the Brahma Kumaris in Poland. In On the Margins of Religion, edited by F. Pine and J.D. Pina-Cibral, 169-186. New York: Berghahn Books.

Kranenborg, R. (1999). Brahma Kumaris: A New Religion. CESNUR, pp. 1-8.

Lewis, James R., (2001) Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy, Prometheus Books

McKendry-Smith, Emily, (2013). Old Gods, New Religions, and Modern Marriages in Nepal. Ph.D., Department of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Miller, Timothy (1995). America's Alternative Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Musselwhite, Richard (2009). Possessing Knowledge: Organizational Boundaries among the Brahma Kumaris. PhD., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nagel, Stephan (1999). Brahmas geheime Schöpfung. Lang.

Ramsay, Tamasin (2017). Brahma Kumaris. Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism.

Ramsay, Tamasin (2012) Sustainable Yogic Agriculture (Shashwat Yogikheti Agriculture). LEISA India, Bangalore: AME Foundation, 14:4, Pp (forthcoming).

Ramsay, Tamasin (2012). Yogic agriculture reaping rewards in India. RioPlus Business, London: Entico Corporation, Pp 118-119.

Ramsay, Tamasin (2012). Reflections from the negotiations. Outreach: a multi-stakeholder magazine on climate change and sustainable development, 26 April 2012, page 10.

Ramsay, Tamasin. Smith, Wendy. and Manderson, Lenore. (2012). ‘Brahma Kumaris: The pilgrimage of purity across ideological and geographical borders.’ In Flow of Faiths: Religion and Spirituality in Asia and the Pacific, edited by Smith, W, Tomlinson, M and Manderson, L., Dordrecht and New York: Springer Publishing Company, Pp 51-70.

Ramsay, Tamasin, and Manderson, Lenore. (2011) Resilience, spirituality and post-traumatic growth: Reshaping the effects of climate change. In Climate Change and Human Wellbeing, edited by Weissbecker, I. International and Cultural Psychology Book Series, series edited by Marsella, A, Dordrecht and New York: Springer Publishing Company, Pp 165-184.

Ramsay, Tamasin, Manderson, Lenore. and Smith, Wendy (2010). ‘Changing a mountain into a mustard seed: Spiritual practices and responses to disaster among New York Brahma Kumaris’, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 25:1, Pp 89-105.

Ramsay, Tamasin. (2009). ‘Addressing humanitarian concerns: Suffering, spirituality and service in the disaster setting’, Prehospital Disaster Medicine, Vol. 24:3, Pp s135-136.

Ramsay, Tamasin., Smith, Wendy. (2008). ‘The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University’, International Institute of Asian Studies Newsletter 47, Spring 2008, IIAS: Leiden. Pp 1,4,5.

Ramsay, Tamasin (2005). ‘The unresearched factor in disaster management: Spiritual preparedness’. International Journal of the Humanities, Common Ground: Melbourne. Vol. 2:2, Pp 1101-1110.

Pandya, Samta P. (2013). The ‘Social’ Face of the Brahmakumaris in India: Contemporary perspectives and praxis nuances. Fieldwork in Religion, Vol. 8:1, Sheffield: UK.

Shupe, Anson., Hadden, Jeffrey K., (1988) The Politics of Religion and Social Change: Religion and the Political Order - Vol. 2: Paragon House.

Skultans, V. (1993). The Brahma Kumaris and the Role of Women. In E. Puttick & P. Clarke (Eds.), Women as Teachers and Disciples in Traditional and New Religions (pp. 47-62). New York: The Edwin Mellen Press.

Smith, Wendy, Ramsay, Tamasin. (2012) Hiromari yuku reikon no jikaku: BKWSU ni okeru keiei to Global na kakudai [The overseas diffusion of soul consciousness: the management and global expansion of the BKWSU]. In H. Nakamaki and Wendy Smith (eds) Global-ka suru Asia-kei Shukyo: Keiei to Marketing (Globalizing Asian Religions: Management and Marketing), Pp. 247-281, Osaka: Toho Shuppan 

Sudesh, S. (1993). Women as Spiritual Leaders in the Brahma Kumaris. In E. P. a. P. Clarke (Ed.), Women as Teachers and Disciples in Traditional and New Religions. (pp. 39-45). New York: The Edwin Mellen Press.

Sutcliffe, S. J. (2003). Children of the New Age: A History of Alternative Spirituality. New York: Routledge.

Twiss, F., Twiss, S. B., & Grelle, B. (1999). Explorations in Global Ethics, Comparative Religious Ethics and Interreligious Dialogue. Boulder, CO.: Westview Press.

Walliss, John (1999). The Brahma Kumaris As a Reflexive Tradition: Responding to Late Modernity, Ashgate: London

Whaling, Frank (2013). Understanding the Brahma Kumaris.

Woodhead, Linda., Fletcher, Paul., Kawanami, Hiroko., Smith, David., (2002), Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations, Routledge.

Sutcliffe, Steven J. (????) Children of the New Age: A History of Alternative Spirituality, Routledge: London.

Twiss, Sumner B., Grelle, Bruce (1998) “Explorations in Global Ethics: Comparative Religious Ethics and Interreligious Dialogue”, Boulder, CO.: Westview Press.