Carsta Schnabel: Heimkehr aus Babylon – Rastafari repatriieren nach Äthiopien [PDF]

2017
621 pp.
3 colour maps, 1 b/w map, 44 colour photos, 1 colour figure, 1 b/w areal photograph, appendices: 1. König Salomon und die Königin von Saba, 2. Orientierungspunkte im Jamaican Säfär (‚jamaikanisches Viertel‘), 3. Lautgetreue Umschrift der amharischen Schrift in lateinische Schrift

Text language: German

Only a small number of the men and women who refer to themselves as Rastafari are able to reach the utmost goal of this movement: Repatriation – turning away from “Babylon”, synonymous with Western culture and values, which are considered as profoundly wrong, and returning home to the land of their ancestors – to Africa. During her research visits to the international Rastafari community in Shashemene / Ethiopia the author looks into the personal living conditions under which the repatriates took up the chal­lenge of migration. She gains insight into their current situation through intensive conversations. What was the decisive factor prompting them to turn towards Rastafari? What motivated them to return to Ethiopia? And how does it feel to finally live there?

On the basis of statements made by her informants and own observations, Carsta Schnabel charac­terises the social fabric of this community with its wide range of biographies, cultural backgrounds and beliefs, while also taking into account the Ethiopian perspective on the repatriates. She draws a multifaceted picture of Rastafari livity in Shashemene as well as of the surrounding Ethiopian culture and brings into focus interaction and mutual reception.

Not only does Carsta Schnabel’s account particularly leave room for a deeper insight into Rastafari, but her personal perception is also revealed – an encounter with spiritually motivated migrants in their new social environment.

Under these links you will find further empirical studies of migration, escape and asylum in Africa, Europe and Germany: