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Dreading inna Babylon Rastafari in Jamaica: Notions of Authenticity, Networks and Modes of Alternative Commodification Master of Cultural Anthropology Master Thesis 30-8-2013 Name: Merhawi Fessehazion Student number: 6184685 Thesis supervisors: Dr. Gerd Baumann & Dr. Peter van Rooden Second reader: Dr. Francio Guadeloupe Third reader: Dr. Barak Kalir E-mail address: [email protected] Content Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Histories: A Strangely Problematic Setting: from Oppression to Commodification ............. 5 Ideologies of Resistance that came before Rastafari ........................................................................... 9 The Emergence of Rastafari in Jamaica ............................................................................................ 10 The 'Dealing' with the Rastafari Movement by the Colonial Government........................................ 13 The Shift in the 'Dealing' with the Rastafari Movement by the State ............................................... 15 Chapter 2: Fieldwork Methods, My Position in the Field and Ideas about the ''Authentic'' Rasta ........ 18 Fieldwork Methods ........................................................................................................................... 18 Fieldwork intro: Who Was I? Their reflections on my Reflexivity .................................................. 19 Encounters: Whom did I Meet in the Field? Rasta, Non-Rasta, or an Essence of Rasta as Authenticity? ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Rasta's ................................................................................................................................................ 22 Non-Rasta's........................................................................................................................................ 24 An Authentic Rastafari? .................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3: Distinctions: Being Sorts of Rasta : Symbols and the Embodiment of them ...................... 33 Symbols ............................................................................................................................................. 34 Haile Selassie ................................................................................................................................ 34 Red, Gold and Green ..................................................................................................................... 38 Dreadlocks ..................................................................................................................................... 40 Empress Menen ............................................................................................................................. 41 The Embodiment of these Symbols ............................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4: The Lack of Formal Networks and Contradictions ............................................................. 45 Organizational Structure.................................................................................................................... 45 Examples out of the Field .................................................................................................................. 48 Contradictions due to the Lack of Resources and Formal Organization ........................................... 50 Ideological Resources........................................................................................................................ 52 Chapter 5: Creating a Space within Babylon by Alternative Forms of Commodification .................... 53 Examples out of the Field .................................................................................................................. 55 Feelings Towards the Commodification of Rastafari ........................................................................ 56 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 59 Epilogue ................................................................................................................................................ 63 Literature ............................................................................................................................................... 64 Introduction ''Tell you about the Blackman Redemption; can you dig it? A Blackman Redemption; can you stop it? Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh no!'' - Bob Marley and the Wailers My initial acquaintance with Rastafari was, like with most of the people who do not live in Jamaica, through Reggae music. It was a form of protest music what sparked my interest in it, like Hip-Hop did when I was of a much younger age. Living in the Netherlands as a black man, I was, like many other people of color, trying to find my place it in this predominately white society. The focus of reggae lyrics that were inspired by Rastafari ideologies resonated with me. It helped me to find a sense of pride in being black. Something that I could not find in white mainstream music and national TV. The more that I started to listen to the music the more I got interested in Rastafari history and how it has developed from its beginning until now. The vantage points to look at Rastafari were and are numerous. As an anthropology student I started to develop an academic interest in the [Rastafari] movement. How they practiced their pan-Africanist ideas, defined blackness, why I had to explain on numerous occasions that the flag of Jamaica is not the same as the one of Ethiopia, that the consumption of weed is not legal in Jamaica and that the Jamaica population does not predominantly exists out of Rastafari's. It got me to wonder why these people were conflating the Ethiopian flag with the Jamaican flag. Especially when I knew that the history of Rastafari in Jamaica is one of oppression. How did these ideas that these people have came into being? When browsing through various tourist magazines, in which agencies are trying to lure tourists in coming to visit their country, one of Jamaica's biggest USP (Unique Selling Point) is Rastafari. There are different package deals wherein tourists can visit different hallmarks of legendary reggae artist of whom the most popular is Bob Marley. When visiting the numerous craft markets that Jamaica has to offer images of Bob Marley and the colors of the Ethiopian flag are to be seen in abundance. Tourists are walking around with knitted hats that have the colors of the flag of Ethiopia with artificial dreads attached to them, or are walking around with t-shirts with Bob Marley, or are wearing bracelets with the colors of the Ethiopian flag. The salesmen and women are all trying to sell these tourists different crafts which they think these tourists came for; and Rastafari holds an important role in various stands. This incorporation of Rastafari into the Jamaican culture and the important place it holds in it made me understand that the conflation of Rastafari and Jamaica by these various people was far from illogical. 1 My starting point of this thesis is that Rastafari started out as a counter-culture. It gave an alternative in the way that people looked at Africa and the way that black Jamaicans could perceive themselves. This was made possible via different ideologies and symbols. Via these symbols and ideologies they had set themselves apart from mainstream Jamaican society and the colonial regime. These symbols and a part of the ideologies are being co- opted/commodified [by the Jamaican state and tourist industry]. An interesting question from a academic perspective is: 'What happens when this ''Redemption'' is being commodified?' That is the predicament in which the Rastafari movement in Jamaica finds itself. From being shunned by the establishment and main society to becoming a ''lifeline'' in itself. So Rastafari finds itself being conflated with a system that has tried to oppress it from the moment of its offset. What sparked my interest was how ordinary Rastafari's dealt with these changes and which effects it had on them as a movement. Are they deploying various strategies to differentiate themselves from 'Babylon?' How do they find their place in nowadays Jamaica? This created the following question that I constructed for my thesis: 'How do Rastafari's in Jamaica differentiate themselves from 'Babylon' now that their symbols and ideologies are being co-opted by the Jamaican state and tourist sector (Babylon)?' To answer this question I have worked out a conceptual theoretical triangle. My first theoretical concept is in this triangle 'authenticity.' To differentiate themselves they have to distinguish the 'real' from the 'unreal.' I will analyze my data that I have gained during my fieldwork by using the works on authenticity by van der Port. My second theoretical concept is 'networks.' When talking about the ''authentic'' Rasta my focus will be on the individual. Another level of distinguishing oneself is on a group level. On a level of a 'moral' community. How do Rastafari's operate in groups to differentiate themselves from 'Babylon'? I will place this in a theoretical framework by drawing from the
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