Rasta Culture

The first chapter of the book Rastafari outlines Max Weber's theories of charisma and routinization in societies. Weber contends that a charismatic leader breaks the normal mould of a citizen and thus after a revolution the culture accepts the the leaders new ideas through a process of routinization. Edmond's in his Rastafari book takes a look at how this process worked of the Rastafari religion.

What interests me is that the process of routinization worked so well for the Rastafari culture that it has moved well beyond Jamaica and into mainstream secular culture in the United States. I don't just mean this in the sense that most people know about the Rastafari, but in the sense that Rastafari culture sells. Rasta colors, clothes, and music are all a huge commercial success.

To me this seems odd, I mean, how many non-Christians do you see that are wearing crosses or jesus shirts? I'd have to think not many. This commercial success brings many questions to mind that me, as a non-rastafari, can not answer. How do rastafari feel about this commercialization? Do they feel like some elements of their culture are being stolen? Do they like Bob Marley being the figure head of their religion instead of the man Rastafari? Its my hope that in reading further, some of these questions can be answered.