Original scientific paper
Rastafarian Utopia
Nikša Dubreta
; The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Shipping, Zagreb
Benjamin Perasović
; Institute for Social Research, Zagreb
Abstract
The authors thing of Rastafarian Utopia in terms of Manheim ’s category of »orgiastic chiliasm«, but they also show that its significance is not exhausted by that classification. The paper discusses Rastafarian Utopia through the birth and development of the Rastafarian movement, from Marcus Garvey till today, as well as through the description of the basic aspects of everyday life that are common among today’s Rastafarians. Those aspects are: their outward appearance, their language, their food, their music, their relationship towards nature and their »holy plant« — ganja. The aspects of their everyday life where the desire to change the existing materialistic-technological civilisation is strongly present, as well as the complete development of the Rastafarian movement, show that it is a religious-utopian movement characterised racially. Because of the relationship towards nature, Rastafarianism is partly connected with the modem ecological movements, especially with those that affirm the spiritual dimension of ecology.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
155185
URI
Publication date:
31.12.1990.
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