Becoming Rasta Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica

"Becoming Rasta is a testament to the lived experience of Rastas, from their first encounters with Rastafari, through conversion, to commitment. It deserves both a scholarly and a general readership." - Hugh Hodges (Nova Religio) "Becoming Rasta will therefore interest scholars of black identity and add to the already huge literature on Rastafari." - Barry Chevannes (History of Religions) "Price succeeds at exposing the Rastafarian diversity...[he] challenges the readers 'to realize these men and women have at least the courage of their conviction." - Michael D. Royster (Equinox Online) "One can recommend this accessible book for undergraduate and graduate surveys in twentieth-century Caribbean history as well as for similar classes dealing with the formation of racial identities." - Charles H. Ford (Historian) "Price's work is a significant addition to scholarly work on Rastifari, offering a unique initial foray into discussion of why Rastafari remains such a powerful identity while also presenting an important illustration of the process of transformation of Rastafari identity." - Erin Macleod (Social Anthropology) "A cutting edge exploration of the complex process of black identity transformation, Becoming Rasta also brings us emotionally closer to the diverse individuals who share their life stories with the reader." - Serena Nanda,author of Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India "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 of Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity "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) "A refreshingly non-otherizing take on the establishment of the character of the Rastafari worldview." (New West Indian Guide)