Stir It Up: the Rastafarian movement as an anti-systemic movement

Abstract

In the past few centuries, anti-systemic movements have become a regular and organized occurrence, but few ever achieve their ultimate goals; rather, they are co-opted or absorbed by the global capitalist system which they are trying to resist. The Rastafarian movement, historically rooted in Maroon communities of escaped slaves in the Caribbean, and the Back to Africa movement in North America, has somehow successfully resisted co-optation since its inception in the 1930s. What is it about the Rastafarian movement that has allowed it to remain vibrant for so long? This book seeks to answer this question through a combination of ethnographic inquiry and historical and theoretical material. Research was conducted in the Rastafarian settlement in Shashamene, Ethiopia and analysed through an historical, world-systems approach. This book sheds light on some of the issues affecting social movements today and should be of interest to participants in and scholars of social movements, as well as anyone intrigued by the Rastafarian movement.