Gender Within a Globalisation Resisting
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Montlouis, Nathalie (2013) Lords and empresses in and out of Babylon: the EABIC community and the dialectic of female subordination. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17357 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. 1 Lords and Empresses in and out of Babylon: The EABIC community and the dialectic of female subordination. Nathalie Montlouis Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in African Languages and Cultures. 2013 Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 2 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work, which I present for examination. Signed: ____ _________________ Date: _25/09/2013________________ 3 Acknowledgements. This thesis is not merely the fruit of my personal efforts. I come from a solid and proud family and community unit that fulfilled my spiritual, emotional, intellectual and financial needs throughout this process. I am indeed grateful for the divine protection of my Creator and the support and love of my entire family. They never ceased to encourage and inspire me, giving me the strength to carry on. A special mention to my fiancé, who bore the whole reading/questioning/writing process without a flinch! You have certainly silenced all the negative stereotypes attached to black men. One Love to the EABIC members in Jamaica, France, Trinidad and London, which allowed me in their midst. I give thanks for your support and guidance. Special thanks to the lionesses Mama Julie, Empress Esther and Mama Rachel for their invaluable contribution to this work. I also would like to thank my tutor, professors and mentors from both official and “underground” institutions for their guidance and assistance. My best regards to Dr Akin Oyetade and Dr. Lez for the intellectual stimulation and the major lessons in critical thinking. Irie, Hotep, Pa Plis Ki Sa, Thank You. 4 Abstract In this thesis, I have questioned the influence of whiteness in the assessment of female subordination in an increasingly neoliberal Caribbean setting. Indeed, due the rigidity of the gendered role attribution on their commune, Bobo Shanti Rastafarians have universally been accused of institutionalising female subordination by most scholars of Rastafari. In Jamaica, where women have traditionally been key agents of their communities, a passive acceptance of a subordinated status can be puzzling. Is androgyny the only means to gender equality? With the caution of strategic gender universalism against cultural relativism, I have endeavoured to analyse gender construction through the standards of this atypical community. It was the first time that a female researcher was immersed in the Bull’ Bay community. It was therefore possible to analyse the EABIC livity from a female perspective, a point lacking in most academic publications about Rastafari, the EABIC and gender equality. From this qualitative study, I have suggested that the EABIC can be regarded as a radical social movement where the potential of its members needs to be federated towards the fulfilment of its objectives; creating a system where equal value is placed on defined gendered roles. I have explored three main areas: the EABIC epistemology; the public; then the private spheres of the commune. I have found that nothing in EABIC theology, the EABIC’s foundation for knowledge creation, neither justified nor encouraged female subordination. Men and women are considered to be divine. The Universal supports both men and women. If the EABIC does not promote gender equality “male style”, it enforces the paramount importance of male and female agency for the survival of its purpose: Repatriation with Reparation. EABIC empresses’ habitus may not fit the western notion of female empowerment; yet their chosen means to exercise agency in their community cannot be diminished. 5 Table of Content. Glossary ....................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................... 12 1.1. Female subordination in Jamaica: socio-economic factor .................................. 13 1.1.2 Female subordination in Jamaica: the religious factor ...................................... 14 1.1.3. Female subordination in Jamaica: Context ...................................................... 16 1.2. The case of Rastafari: conscious of the “double consciousness”. ....................... 17 1.2.1. Jamaica: connecting spirituality and social changes ........................................ 18 1.2.2. Jamaica, land of Black Nationalism: Marcus Garvey ...................................... 20 1.2.3 Jamaica, land of radical thinking: Rastafari ...................................................... 22 1.2.4. Main Mansions of Rastafari ............................................................................. 25 1.2.4.a. The Twelve Tribes of Israel .......................................................................... 26 1.2.4.b. The Order of Nyabinghi ................................................................................ 27 1.2.4.c. The Ethiopian African Black International Congress: the Bobo Shanti ....... 29 1.2.5. Recapitulation .................................................................................................. 33 1.3. Theoretical tools .................................................................................................. 33 1.3.1 Understanding Whiteness/Babylon ................................................................... 34 1.3.2. Tools to measure female subordination ........................................................... 38 1.3.3. Female power and valorising gendered activity .............................................. 39 1.3.4. EABIC: a gender equalitarian social movement? ............................................ 42 1.3.5. EABIC structure: “post-conflict backlash” theory ........................................... 43 1.4. Research question................................................................................................ 45 1.5. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 46 1.5.1. Choice of Location ........................................................................................... 46 1.5.2. Collecting data: Direct Participant Observation method ................................. 48 1.5.3. Contacts ............................................................................................................ 53 1.5.4. Training for the field work: Trinidad and France ............................................ 53 1.6. Structure of dissertation ...................................................................................... 54 Chapter 2: When gods and goddesses worship ..................................................... 56 2.1. Enslaving theology: black the accursed colour ................................................... 56 2.2. Jamaica and its theology of liberation ................................................................. 59 2.3. Bobo Shanti and its theological foundations ....................................................... 61 2.3.1. Obeah, Revival, EABIC, mixture and departure .............................................. 61 2.3.2. Bobo Shanti and the rejection of spirit possession .......................................... 65 2.3.4. EABIC Divine reincarnation ............................................................................ 67 2.4. EABIC Trinity ..................................................................................................... 68 2.4.1. HIM Haile Selassie, King Alpha: the male archetype ..................................... 69 2.4.2. Empress Menen, Queen Omega: the Female archetype................................... 70 2.4.3. The Prophet: Marcus Garvey ........................................................................... 72 2.4.4. EABIC Trinity: King Emmanuel, the Black Christ ......................................... 73 2.5. The EABIC and the written word ....................................................................... 77 2.5.1 Deliver us From Evil ......................................................................................... 78 2.5.1.a. The Evils of European civilisation ...............................................................