Since its emergence from the ghettoes of West Kingston; Jamaica in the 1930s; the Rastafarian Movement has been transformed from an obscure group of outcasts to a vibrant movement that has not only become firmly entrenched in Jamaican society; but has successfully expanded beyond the Caribbean to North America; the British Isles; and Africa. Ennis Barrington Edmonds provides a compelling portrait of the Rastafarian phenomenon and chronicles how a once-obscure group; much maligned and persecuted; became a dominant cultural force in the world today. Edmonds charts the evolution of the relationship between Rastafari and the wider Jamaican society. In the early years of the movement; there was outright confrontation and repression; as Rastas were seen as a threat to Jamaican society. This evolved into a grudging tolerance and eventually an aggressive appropriation of Rastafarian symbols in the 1970s and 1980s--as evidenced by the veritable coronation of reggae artist Bob Marley--resulting in the "culture tourism" of the late twentieth century. Edmonds focuses in particular on the internal development of Rastafarianism as a social movement; with its network of "houses" (small; informal groups that form around leading Rastas) and "mansions" (larger; more communal associations); to track the process of this strikingly successful integration. He further demonstrates how Rastafarian artistic creativity; especially in fashioning the music and message of reggae; was a significant factor in the transition of Rastas from the status of outcasts to the position of culture bearers. Rastafari presents an intimate account of a unique movement; which over the course of several decades had entrenched itself in Jamaican society and has become the international cultural and political force it is today.
#1370185 in Books David Grimsted 1998-05-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.10 x 6.40l; 1.54 #File Name: 0195117077392 pagesAmerican Mobbing 1828 1861 Toward Civil War
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Missing Piece of Civil War HistoryBy AvidReaderTo really understand the Civil War time period we need to know the full picture. One major thing overlooked by many historians was the incredible amount of prewar violence ripping the nation apart as one side fought to extend slavery into all the free states and the abolitionists risked life and limb to fight back. This is a fascinating historical study mainly intended for serious history buffs on just how much violence was happening and who was behind it. Did you know that the Vice President at one point was behind the mobs that were sent to disrupt antislavery meetings? This book details riot after riot and how it affected the nation. Riots were a major tool used by the proslavery lobby to try to silence any type of antislavery "agitation" which helps us understand the courage of the abolitionists who stared down the mob.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Important book on American violenceBy O. PflugAmerican mobbing is a difficult; but ultimately fulfilling read. The author's prose it a bit dense and verges on haughty at many points; but the scholarship is very high quality. The book deals with riots large and small in the years before the Civil War. The most important part of the book takes up the first two thirds of the volume; with the last third covering topics (political violence including bleeding Kansas) written about heavily elsewhere.The first two parts of the book deal with northern and southern riots that involved slavery in some way. While northern anti-abolition riots did flare in the mid-1830s they were much less deadly than southern riots. Furthermore; southern riot victims of "anti-abolition" mobs were hardly abolitionists. Usually victims had merely failed to praise slavery to the extent the mob demanded. Most of the materials that the author used in his accounts of the riots come from personal letters; as southern newspapers often repressed details of violent riots. The social ideal behind southern riots was indeed primarily concerned with suppression of dissent and the establishment of a society (white and black) unquestioning of the slave-system. The author notes that while most southern anti-abolition riots were not directed at actual abolitionists; riots against alleged black uprising fomenters; was also questionably directed. That while the southern legal system worked reasonable well in the face of actual insurrections (Nat Turn; John Brown); mob riots against blacks were often based on nothing more than unsubstantiated rumor. Victims in these situations (with rioters often assisted by authorities) could number more than one hundred.American Mobbing is an important work that any Civil War specialist should read.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy SheilaExactly as described.
