Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica
“Anthropologist Price unites the personal and the social in his exploration of identity formation among Rastafarians in Jamaica, where the Rastafari religion originated in 1930. . .This well-written, sophisticated, and continuously engaging account belongs in all libraries.”-CHOICE,“Price deploys his life history material most artfully in developing these themes. I have not done justice to his theoretical sophistication and synthesizing abilities, qualities enhanced by accessibility and grace.”-Anthropology News,“In an otherwise voluminous literature on Rastafaria, Price fills a void by presenting and critically analyzing the testimonies of Rastafarian men and women that narrate how they discovered, why they entered, and how they sustained membership in the culture, resistance, and theater that is Rastafaria. This book is one of the most important additions to the discourse on the Rastafarian movement to appear in years. Price reveals himself to be both a skilled cultural anthropologist and superb storyteller; the volume reads as much like a piece of literature as social scientific treatise.”-William E. Cross, Jr.,author ofShades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity“A cutting edge exploration of the complex process of black identity transformation,Becoming Rastaalso brings us emotionally closer to the diverse individuals who share their life stories with the reader.”-Serena Nanda,author ofNeither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India