Rastafarian Study Guide 1 Religion a Early on religion was a focus of anthropology Because everything was defined by religion in 19th century b Neanderthals had early notion of religion Found skeletons intentionally buried in natle position wrapped and buried on side Also buried with grave goods so belief of afterlife c Definition of religion i Beliefs all religions contain beliefs of the nature and character of supernatural powers may vary tremendously ii Mythology stories which tell about how the supernatural powers came to be their role to us and how world came to be iii Rituals guided practices not just made up taught to you designed to influence or reflect powers of your group d Religion as a social function DURKHEIM father of sociology believed function of anything is for social cohesion Religion is a way for society to worship itself i Malinowski psychological functions believe functions as way to relieve stress and anxiety about death promotes wellbeing 1 Where can control your life farming less stress because less ritual practices 2 Where have surprises going out to sea more rituals because high anxiety so counteract with religion to decrease anxiety ii Religion can play a political role X ghost dance revitalization iii EX Gmelch rituals in baseball a Handsome Lake Religion among Iroquois suffered from the Revolutionary War Developed lots of prophets Handsome Lake was the success story he was a sachem chief and was an alcoholic said had a vision of a deity ho told him to be sober and spread sobriety while also abandoning some traditional ways become patrilineal syncretism b Cargo Cults in Micronesia Dutch had colonized and brought the church People wanted to accumulate wealth and wanted to get wealthy like the Dutch were Missionaries said would get wealthy if convert to Christianity so they did but found this wasn t material wealth so felt betrayed by the church and tricked Determined to get own wealth so prophets and cults developed idea of an apocalyptic ending where only indigenous would survive but the wealth of the Dutch would be left behind for them Performed rituals Ex create airstrip landing to try and get plane to come to them with wealth Also try to lure Prince Phillip Eventually become political party 2 Revitalization example 3 Why are people poor a Dependency Theory people are poor b c some are extremely wealthy in other parts of the world exploitation poverty wealth are connected Poverty as a verb not adjective b Not poor b c poor area nor that cannot improve themselves b c culture or intelligence poor b c of Western World i John Stuart Mill economist west indies is place England finds convenient for coffee and trading products seen not as a country but convenient EX in west Africa started trading with royalty as peers and then turned them to slaves EX DR fertile land today is single crop economy before could easily feed themselves but now have to import food which increases price and develops poverty ii Forced peasant production in colonialism large plantations which displaces local farmers iii Taxes used instead of forcefully displacing peasants can t pay and then take land and then need to work for colony 1 Colonists weapon military with advanced weapon technology power built around force and a system which controls culture and consciousness a Have awe of people convince of superiority a Governing with the consent of the governed why Because don t feel they have the ability to govern yourself so let others do it Most powerful weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed Don t need an army if have mind root of colonization i Composed of two parts among a group 1 Social Self Loathing hate yourself not personally but 2 Over Valuing the Foreign love the other hat you aren t EX anthropology of difference your hair is better b c blows in the wind saying supports white dominance EX immigrants wants to Americanize DR ii People do have ability to resist agency to hegemony 1 CULTURAL RESISTANCE a James Scott wrote Weapons of the Weak subordinate class can not overtly confront elite but can in subtle ways foot dragging strategy i Done by African slaves ii Play up racist stereotype lazy dumb iii Cover behind songs scriptures 4 Hegemony 5 Race a Jamaica is divided by notions of class and race i In U S race is fixed and class more fluid where elsewhere one can change race thru education marriage etc ii EX C L R James wrote Beyond the Boundary an autobiography about issues of class and race growing up 6 RASTAFARIANS played cricket and learned to be a loyal subject of England as a result colonial mind set b Can change notion of race b c sociological and economic changes c Gradiations levels of race not exact science and dependent on factors JAMAICA notion of denigrating local people but also inflating valued d foreigners among brown class ruling classes after colonialism found to be very identified with the British i A G Smith referred to this love affair as ANGLOPHILIA or associational color idea that color is associated with other things can lose some of your darkness by increasing education and acting more British better grammar 1 Intersection of class and race is more fluid in Jamaica than in the U S e Marcus Garvey classic dark skinned Jamaican who made unusual success on shipping company Developed a strong political movement Bank To Africa Movement black nationalism movement in 1922 felt Africa was meant for Africans and wanted people to focus attention back to their homeland built on getting people politically oriented on black nationalism form of revitalization a Religion syncretic fusion of African roots and Christian elements b Ras Tafari was kinged emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 Jamaica saw as momentous event i ii Haile Selassie seen as savior reincarnation of Christ c Result is cults of Rastafarianism i Poor areas very rural people close to slave community d Repatriation wanted to go back to Africa and return to peasantry i All would be good again e Garveyism 1920 1925 nationalistic movement of going back to Africa but for economic reasons f Bible took pride in old testament Idea that a black person was significant in it was key i ii Solomon and Sheeba interracial marriage iii Looked at bible as a secret text iv Found lessons in the bible that pertained to them 1 Slavery of Jews in Egypt v Were empowered by the bible flinging it back rude 1 Use it as a weapon g Static groups various origins between them active interpretations i Very elastic