The Forms of Jah : the Mystic Collectivity of the Rastafarians And

THE FORtlS OF JAH: THE MYSTIC COLLECTIVITY OF THE RASTAFARIANS AND ITS OBGAMIZATfONAL PRECIPITATES Yasmin Jivani B. A,, University of British Columbia, 1979 THESIS SUBMITTEC IN PARTIAL FULYILLPIENT OF THE REQUIRERENTS PGR THE DEGREE GP HASTER OF ARTS in the Departraent of Sociology and Anthopology @ Yasmin Jiuani 1984 SIHON f RASER UNIYERSITP December 1983 All rights reserved. This work say not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other Beans, without permission of the author. Name: Yasain Jiwani Degree: master of Arts Title of thesis: The Porrs of Jah: The Mystic Collectivity of the ~astafarians and its Organizational Precipitates Examining Committee: Chai rman: Dr. Noel Dyck John Whi tworth Senior Supervisor Nert Wyl 1 i e Phi 1i p Wagner External Examiner Geography Department Simon Fraser University Date Approved: December 9, 1983 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thes i s/Project/Extended Essay The Foms of 3ah: The Mystic Collectivity of the Rastrfari ans and its Organ4 rational Prect pltates Author: I (signature) Yasml n Jiwanl ( name December 13, 1983 ( date 1 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the Rastafarian movement as a whole utilizing concepts developed in the sociology of religion for the analysis of differing types of religious organizationsl The thesis demonstrates that the Rastafarian movement constitutes a mystic collectivity. Further, the thesis analyzes various groups precipitated by the Rastafarian collectivity which approximate to ideal types of cult and sect, In addition, the politically inclined groups extant in the Rastafarian tradition are also examined, The aim of the thesis is thus tuofald; to assess the utility of the concept of the mystic collectivity and to analyze the range of groups generated by the Rastafariaq religious tradition. This thesis was undertaken in resFonse to perceived inadequacies in the sociological litera tufe on Rastafarianism. Nuch of this literature is nov outdated and even contemporary works present only partial analyses of the movement. It is argued that the concept of the ~ysticcollectivity provides an heuristic device through which the Rastafarian movement can be apprehended as a totality, albeit a totality whose structure periaits the crystallization of widely varying forms of religious and politically oriented refigicus organizations. The research strategy employed in this thesis involved the use of koth literary sources in the sociology of religion aild on the Rastafarian movement, Participant observation was also conducted in the indigenous Jamaican context of Rastafarianism iii and amongst the Rastafarians in Uestern Canada, The thesis concludes that the Bastafarian movement displays features which correspond to those of a mystic collectivity, and that the various groups within this collectivity approximate to sectarian and cultic for~s.Additionally, the thesis concludes that the Rastafarian tradition is an inherently dynamic one possessing the capacity to generate a wide variety of organizational forms both in response and reaction to varying socic-cultural enviconments. It aFFears that the hitherto largely unutilized concept of the saystic collectivity might prove of significant heuristic value in analyzing the developent of similar religiously inspired movements. TABLE OP COITEBTS Approval ..................................................... ii Abstract .................................................... iii I I Introduction .........................................1 Research strategy ...................................... .6 Chapter Sequence .......................................17 11. The Rastafarian Hovesent: Its History and Belief System ............................................... ..21 The Rastafarian belief system .......................... 48 Bastafarian *livitys [lifestyle) ....................... 65 111, The Rastafarian Movement and the Typologies of Religious Organization .................................81 Typologies of Religious Organizations .................. 93 IV. The fiystic Collectivity of the Rastafarians ....... 112 The Many Mansions of Bastafar1 ........................130 V. The Growth of the Rastafarian Hovemeat and the Porns of Jah .......................................... 160 Selected Bibliography ....................................... 219 I. Xntroductioa The Rastafarian movement originated as a black Jamaicac based millenarian movement in the 1930's. Since then, the Rastafarian phenomenon has grown rapidly and spread, not only to other parts of the Caribbean, but is also manifest in parts of North America, and England, In this respect, the movement has transcended geographic, racial and cultural boundaries. However, since its inception in the 1930's the Rastafarian movement has undergone dramatic changes koth in terms of its theoloqy and with respect to the nature of its membership, Yoreover, tho spread of the movement to other parts of the world has engendered the manifestation of varying forms of Rastafarianism which diverge significantly from its manifestation in the Jamaican con text, Yet there seem to be conimon denominators that . are shared by the various forms of Fastafarianism, and which function as demarcating lines differentiating the Rastafarians from their non-Rastafarian conriterparts. The Rastafarian movement also embodies a range of groups which exhibit a variety ot structural features and which are naobilized around particular interpretations of the belief system, These groups range fro= those that are highly committed to a religious interpretation of Rastafarianisa to those that espouse a politically inclined interpretati~nof this faith. As such the movement's membership is highly heterogenous, reflecting differential degrees of commitment and interpretations of Rastafarianism. While the coaposition of the membership is racially concentrated in terms of the number of blacks who adhere to it, there are Bastafarians that come from widely varying racial and cultural backgrounds. Existing literature on the Bastafarian movement, while informative on various aspects of the Rastafarian tradition, does not offer any substantive analysis of the heterogenons nature of the ~ovement. Rather, a majority of the studies of the Rastafarian movement treat the phenomenon as a monolithic entity. To a large extent, most of tkese treatments of the Rastafarian ooveaent are highly specific in their focus, concentrating on various aspects of the movement such as its uusic [e.g, Clarke, 1980, Shibata, l98l), the sacramental use of marijuana [e. g. Ansley, 1981), its lifestyle or 'livity * {e-g. Nicholas, l979), while others offer analyses of the move~entin one specific yeogra~fiicalcontext (e.g, Barrett, 1968, Campbell, 19813k, Cashmore, 1979, Rilson, 1978). In addition, studies of the Bastafarian tradition have so far not addressed questions pertaining to the factors contribnting to the naovesrtent*~rapid growth and spread. Yet the phenomenal grouth of the Rastafarian movement in the last five P decades raises a number of questions from the sociological perspective dealing with the appeal of the movement, its ability to satisfy the needs of the membership, the mechanisms for the dissemination of its religious tradition, and the differecces between its manifestations in varying social contexts, Intimate1 y related to this issue of the aovementls geographic extension is the question regarding the nature of its underlying structure. A review of the literature suggests that early studies of Rastafarianise which typified the latter as a millennia1 rrtessianic 'cult* have forrued the corner stone of later academic attettlpts to understand the social reality of Bastafarianism insofar as its overall organization is ccncerned. Host of the studies on the Rastafarian movement have anchored their concf ption of Rastafarianism on the millennia1 and messianic nature of the belief system, Yet the labelling of the ~ovementas a 'cultg of various types, i.e. a 'politico-religious cult1 (Kitzinger, 1969, Simpson, 1955a, l95Sb), *a messianic cult' (Barrett, 19681, *a cult of outcasts1 (Patterson, 1964) is also a predominant feature in the literature, While there are definitely 'culticl eleaents in the Bastafasian movement, an examination of the literature on typologies of religious organizations reveals that a blanket conceptualization of the movement as a 'cult1 is highly inaccurate and moreover does not take into consideration the various gfoups extant in the movenent or the ~arkedlyvarying interpretations of Rastafarianism. Furthermore, Rastafarianisifi, though exhibiting millennia1 aspirations and tendencies, also contains various other streams of thought which do not fall into the category of millenarianism. There are a numker of groups within the Rastafarian collectivity that are mobilized around a more politically oriented interpretation of the Rastafarian belief system, In this respect,

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