Rastafarianism’s mythic origin masks its local political birth

Evidence

The latter, as we know, looked back to that mythic space, “Ethiopia,” where black kings ruled for a thousand years, the site of a Christian congregation hundreds of years before the Christianization of western Europe. But, as a social movement, it was actually born, as we know, in that fateful but unlocatable “place” closer to home where Garvey’s return met the Reverend Hibbert’s preaching and Bedward’s delusive fantasies, leading to the retreat to and the forced dispersal from Pinnacle. It was destined for that wider politicized space where it could speak for those—if the phrase is forgiven—“dispossessed by independence”! — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 858

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: The pattern of a movement’s mythic origin-signifier (Ethiopia) serving as cover for a concrete local political birth mirrors how nationalist and religious movements construct legitimating origins—relevant to how Islamist movements are read politically.