Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney [Paperback]

Horace Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1987

Rasta and Resistance is a study of the Rastafarian movement in all it's manifestations, from its evolution in the hills of Jamaica to its present manisfestations in the streets of Birmingham and Shashamane Settlement in Ethiopia. It traces the cultural, political and spiritual sources of this movement of resistance, hightlighting the quest for change among an oppressed people. This book serves to break the intellectual traditions which placed the stamp of millenarianism on Rasta.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Rasta and Resistance is a study of the Rastafarian Movement in all its manifestations, from its evolution in the hills of Jamaica to its present manifestations in the streets of Birmingham and the Shashamane Settlement in Ethiopia. It traces the cultural, political and spiritual sources of this movement of resistance, highlighting the quest for change among an oppressed people. This book serves to break the intellectual traditions which placed the stamp of millenarianism on Rasta.

Absence of a political enquiry into the Rastafari of the Caribbean has always been an uncomfortable gap in the record of the Caribbean revolution. Now Horace Campbell has bade a big step towards the filling of that gap. This is not to suggest that Caribbean writers and thinkers (we should not confuse the two groups) have not done much investigation of the Rastafari way of life with all the clarity and depth which their areas of investigation permitted them; some have also ventured into the political dominion.

Cambell has many of the qualifications for the task he has undertaken. He has been struggling for some years to apply the scientific theory of society to the reality of African and Caribbean politics, and in the process has avoided the creation of false gods. -Eusi Kwayana

About the Author

Horace Campbell was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1945. He is a writer, teacher and political activist who has taught in Africa, the Caribbean, Britain and North America. His writings include two books: Four Essays on Neo-colonialism in Uganda and Pan-Africanism: The Struggle Against Neo-colonialism and Imperialism as well as numerous articles, papers and essays which have been published in various journals in Britain, North America, the Caribbean and Africa. Since 1981, he has been teaching at University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, East Africa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Africa World Press (February 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865430357
• ISBN-13: 978-0865430358
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Rastafari

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rastafari as a Marxist/Political Movement, July 29, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney (Paperback)

This book is as much about Marxist theory as it is about Rastafarianism, which isn't necessarily a bad thing unless you're not as interested in the former as in the latter. Rodney's objective is to couch the origins of the Rastafarian movement in that of proletariat class struggle. However, he provides little evidence to demonstrate a definitive link between the two. Rodney convincingly shows that Rasta developed as a means for the descendants of African slaves to positively identify with Africa and her people, as opposed to the white king of England. Insofar as this movement developed among blacks who constituted the mass of Jamaica's populace and who were working-farming poor - than Rasta may be considered a proletarian movement. However, Rodney provides no evidence that the early Rasta leaders consciously understood their struggle as a "class struggle" as that phrase is understood in the Marxist lexicon. The evidence suggests only that they sought to empower the mass of "sufferers" by seeking to positively identify with Africa and the African King - Haile Selassie I. The discussion of Rastafarianism in a political, social, economic and cultural context is so pervasive as to make one forget that practitioners consider Rastafari a religion. Indeed, Rodney provides no information on the central tenants, philosophy or rites of Rastafari as a religion. Rodney seeks to dismiss those Rasta who believe in the divinity of Selassie as misguided victims of Coptic propaganda. This conclusion reinforces Rodney's objective to posit Rastafari as a viable political movement for change and Rodney provides enough evidence to make this conclusion credible. Moreover, showing the political aspects of Rastafari allows those who may not necessarily believe in the divinity of Selassie to become involved in the movement. Despite the Marxist overtones and lack of religious information, the book still deserves a good rating. Independent of the Marxist analysis the book provides great factual and historical information about the resistance of Africans and their descendents against slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism in the Caribbean and credibly depicts Rasta as a form of resistance. Indeed, if you aren't seeking a better understanding of Rastafari as a religion than this book is well worth the money. In this vein of resistance Marcus Garvey is prominently featured. The book contains an excellent chapter on the role of reggae music in spreading the Rasta's culture of resistance and ends with a thought-provoking discussion of repatriation, ultimately concluding that Africans and their descendants must struggle to change their conditions wherever they find themselves.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Book On The Black History Of The Carribean, April 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney (Paperback)

History teaches a lot about the Black struggles here in the United States, but you hardly find any books about slavery and Black struggles in the Carribean and South America. Rasta and Resistance talks about the beginnings of the slave trade, slavery in Brazil, the Haitian Revolution and Toussaint L'Ouverture, Walter Rodney, Rastafarianism, ska and reggae music, and Black struggles in Great Britain. A great book for those wanting to learn more about the lost chapters of slavery and Black struggles.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Century's Most Provocative Historiographer!!!, September 16, 1999

By 

Kimberly M. Thomas - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rasta and Resistance: From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney (Paperback)

I had the privilege of "awakening" under the masterful stewardship of Dr. Horace Campbell. He is no longer teaching in Tanzania, but spent many years cultivating and producing great thinkers in Zimbabwe, where I met him. Since then, he has continued his tenureship stateside returning to Syracuse University in 1996. Exposing yourself to an essay, article or book by Dr. Campbell will provide interesting and compelling realizations of African and Caribbean political histories.