Rastafari & Other African-Caribbean Worldviews - Tapa dura

Rastafari has been seen as a political organization, a youth movement, and a millenarian cult. This lively collection of papers challenges these categories and offers a "new approach" to the study of Rastafari. Chevannes and his contributors suggest that we can better understand Rastafari-and Caribbean culture, for that matter-by seeing the movement as both a departure from and a continuance of Revivalism, an African-Caribbean folk religion. By linking Rastafari to Revival, we can enrich our understanding of an African-Caribbean worldview, and we can appreciate Rastafari not only as a political force but as a powerful expression of African-Caribbean culture and tradition. Barry Chevannes provides a concise overview of Rastafari and Revivalism and clearly lays out the volume's "new approach." Leading scholars of Rastafari illustrate and develop the theme with chapters on Rastafari as resistance, the origin of the dreadlocks, Rastafari and language, women in African-Caribbean religions and more. With chapters that range from the specific to the general, this volume will be important to specialists of Caribbean religion and the African diaspora and to those with a burgeoning interest in Rastafari. The contributors include Jean Besson, Ellis Cashmore, Barry Chevannes, John P. Homiak, Roland Littlewood, H.U.E Thoden van Velzen, and Wilhelmina van Wetering.

Life Chevannes first attended St George's College, then went to Boston College in the USA, where he earned the Bachelor's (BA) and Master of Arts (MA) in Philosophy . He then studied sociology at the University of the West Indies (UWI), specializing in the study of Afro-Caribbean culture and religion and early scientific studies of the social impact of Ganja in Jamaica and earned the master's degree. He promoted ( Ph.D. ) at Columbia University about the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica. He taught at the UWI as a lecturer and senior lecturer, eventually as a professor of social anthropology . He has been head of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Psychology of the UWI, and was dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences from 1994 to 2004 . In addition to Caribbean culture and religion, he also investigated family relations, the impact of crime and violence, and sociopolitical movements. In addition to his academic activities, Chevannes was also involved in social activities, such as founding members of Partners for Peace and Fathers Incorporated, an organization to support fathers and young men. Chevannes was chairman of the National Commission on Ganja in 2000 and 2001, which published the National Report on Ganja Use . He also participated in the Peace Management Initiative of the Ministry of National Security. He was chairman of the Institute of Jamaica, the Musgrave Medal . Chevannes was married and father of two children. He died on 5 November 2010 in the University Hospital of UWI.