Theme 01 : Intercultural Communications
Type: Essay
March 2025
Written for Universitat Pompeu Fabra
03.2025
Rastafarian Religion : Dreadlocks Symbols.
Historical Analysis
Examining the history of Rastafari, including the dreadlocks popularity, commercialism and connection with mainstream popular culture, providing deeper context to the symbolic myths
Project 01 : Rastafarian Religion : Dreadlocks Symbols
Written for Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Whilst there are differing thoughts on the beginnings of Rastafari, the most common idea of its fruition mentions one key figure - Marcus Garvey, who is widely known as the prophet for many Rastafari.
Born in St Ann's Bay, Jamaica in 1887 to a Stonemason Father and Domestic Servant Mother, Marcus Garvey's young life was relatively prosperous for the time, and as a young adult he lived, travelled and worked in various Latin American countries before studying Law and Philosophy in London.
While conducting these studies a young Marcus Garvey worked for The African Times and The Orient Review, the latter of which began to formulate his ideas of Pan - Africanism, a movement that encourages the strengthening of solidarity amongst all indigenous peoples (African American Heritage. 2020).
Just a few years later whilst on a brief return to Jamaica, Garvey created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) with the bid to celebrate black nationalism through African history and culture. The headquarters of the UNIA were held in New York, where Garvey moved in 1916, and began illustrious efforts focused on African pride such as supporting a 'Back to Africa' movement and producing 'Black Star Line', a ship that carried passengers back and forth between Africa and the US.
Garvey was a racial separatist, thereby many of the segregation views of the far right were agreed with by Garvey, at one point he even met Klu Klux Klan members to understand their views and develop a segregation plan. This made him a somewhat controversial figure in and out of the Jamaican community, especially with alternative scholars such as W.E.B Dubois attempting to resolve segregation by integration through the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) (African American Heritage. 2020)
In 1922, a little after the KKK meeting, Garvey was arrested and imprisoned for mail fraud being connected with one of his Black Star Line ships. An arrest that was disapproved by many of his followers and whilst serving the sentence the then US President (Calvin Coolidge) commuted his time enabling him to spend his remaining life in Jamaica until his death in 1940.
Despite being a divisive figure of the time, the legacy of Marcus Garvey's teachings and writings led to many movements beyond, such as The Black Power Movement, Nation of Islam and firstly, Rastafari.
With a proliferation of information including access to scriptures and writings of newly prominent Jamaican figures, many religious preachers began to spring up on the streets of Kingston, reading, researching, defining and preaching their own interpretations.
The most famous of these preachers was Leonard Howell, known as "The First Rasta".
Despite being born a little later than Garvey there were some similarities in younger life, such as travel that led to living in New York at a young age, where he was exposed to Pan-Africanism and heavily influenced by Marcus Garvey's UNIA.
In particular, Howell was influenced by one of Garvey's most famous statements "Look to Africa, where a Black King shall be crowned" as the crowning of an African King in Africa was so unheard of at the time.
When in 1930 Haile Selassie I was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, Leonard Howell stated the above writings by Marcus Garvey as a propheticisation and, with his personal interpretations of the bible, believed the Emperor as the returning of Christ, therefore fulfilling a prophecy from the Book of Revelation. Howell's teachings professed black people as the original and true Israelites with Haile Sellasie sent to liberate them from oppression.
Howell founded Pinnacle, a settlement in the hills of St Catherine, Jamaica in 1940, Within Pinnacle Howell took on a leadership role with several assistants and many followers that practiced communal living including separation from any colonial systems, growth of food and cultivation of plants, including ganja.
Despite heavy opposition from the Jamaican government, including several raids at Pinnacle that eventually led to Howell's arrest, the roots of Rastafari had begun. These included;
- The divinity of Haile Selassie I
- The rejection of Babylon (oppressive colonial systems)
- The importance of repatriation to Africa
- The sacramental use of ganja for meditation and spiritual enlightenment
Also prevalent in such communes were groundings, a safe space to discuss, debate and relate that could last all day and into the night. Music would often be a part of these groundings using the akete drum set to connect to spirits alongside ganja smoking and dancing .
It is no surprise that the rastafari dreadlock also started with tales of exploitation. This time in India, with roughly 35,000 Indians shipped to Jamaica as Indentured labourers between 1845 - 1917 by the British Government - which was part of a larger initiative that enslaved people of Africa would be replaced by underpaid people of India after the abolishment of slavery (The National Archive, 2020)
One of the beautifully diverse cultural, religious and spiritual practices that were brought over by hindu practicing people included the wearing of matted hair, called 'Jatas' to show devotion to the Lord of Shiva - revered as the lord of regeneration and renewal through the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment (Isha Foundation, 2014).
These two merging cultures, both oppressed, began to share knowledge and spiritual practices openly with curiosity on similarities and differences. For rastafari, the symbolisation of the Hindu Lord of Shiva and the Old Testament, book of Judges tale of Samson (a famous biblical figure who was said to be dedicated to God and therefore required to follow vows such as not cutting his hair, not drinking alcohol and avoiding unclean things) (Britannica, 2025) created meaningful associations. After all, the reward for Samson's devotion was to be blessed with the immense physical strength used to fulfill his duty to deliver the Israelites from their Philistine oppressors.
Santamaria, 2002 states "Cultures are self-referential texts, which, as they produce meaning, generate meaning and representations of themselves. These representations, as well as acting as schemas for organizing reality, are cognitive and emotional ways of perceiving reality, which, shared by different members of the group, structure social relations, even as they are transformed and reworked by group members"
Interestingly, this observation of reevaluating oneself with one's relation to others is known as 'I and I' in rastafari, where the first 'I' represents the physical and the second 'i' the spiritual. For Rastafari, no other time in history caused a mass cultural revaluation of one's own identity with the relation of others than that of Bob Marley and The Wailers, whose music alongside mainstream developments of Television and Radio meant a Global shift in perspectives and changed a view of the dominant model (Rodrigo-Alsina & Medina-Bravo, 2016) enabling the rastafari message to be beamed into the homes of those with no previous knowledge.
Interestingly, it was the tales of Emperor Haile Selassie's eventual visit to Jamaica (despite always claiming to be a man, rather than a resurrection of Christ) from Marley's partner that inspired the music and took Rastafari to new heights.
With Global messages being sung by a revered Global superstar who resided in Jamaica, the dreadlocks themselves became a visual symbol for many who knew little about the religion.
On a National level in countries such as the UK, Artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker and Gregory Isaacs created notable songs associated with the era of rastafari, which were also amplified by the media. As second generation Jamaicans in the UK post Windrush, one might believe that life may have become easier for the "day to day" rastafari, but this was not the case.
In their 2016 paper on "Identities, Culture Models and Power", Rodrigo-Alsina & Medina-Bravo state that whilst a monocultural model has been the dominant since modernity. I.e A rational method, a unified science and an exact language (Toulman, 2001), the principle of uniformity is also a source of discrimination and exclusion. Thus, a monocultural model forces assimilation (Berry 1997). On the other hand, multiculturalism transmits a message of apparent integration understood as a two-way process that fosters mutual openness to the other’s differences, interaction and possible adaptation. Nonetheless, the reality is less simplistic and integration does not always operate as a two-way process (Bilbeny 2010), since reciprocity is a complex exercise in cohabitation that requires empathy, equality and attention to others.
Such references are incredibly pertinent to rastafari appropriation amidst the media popularity and societal reality, within which dreadlocks and the smoking of ganja were the main symbolic uptakes and added to this were criminality, suspicion, discrimination and hostility. Therefore whilst the image of rastafari became Bob Marley and the enlightened spiritual messages, the reality for rastafari on the street was far different.
This dualism between monoculturalism and multiculturalism, is a critical part of cultural appropriation, where uptake and usage of meaningful aspects of oppressed cultures are used as style symbols for dominant cultures' over the real life empathy, understanding and support required for the equality of those being oppressed.
Theme 02 : Environmental Communications
Type: Essay
December 2024
Written for Universitat Pompeu Fabra
12.2024
DANA in Valencia: The two visits of King Felipe VI.
Explicative Analysis
In 2024 Valenica was hit by one years of torrential rain in 24 hours with Government response systems detecting them too late. This essay explicates two objects of El Mundo footage of King Felipe VI’ visits.
Project 01 : DANA in Valencia: The two visits of King Felipe VI.
Written for Universitat Pompeu Fabra
12.2024
1.0 Climate Defence: Leadership, Politics and Fictional time
On October 29th, 2024, parts of Valencia, where this paper will concentrate, were hit with the consequences of one years’ worth of torrential rain in a day.
The rain occurred in towns upland as the result of a Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (DANA). A DANA is caused when colder air at higher altitudes drops over warmer mediterranean waters causing moist air from the sea surface to rise quickly with dense cumulonimbus clouds formed in the process. (Science Media Centre, 2024)
In Paiporta, Valencia, not a drop of rain fell, however the rainwater from upland surged downstream through riverbanks that could not contain it and created devastation by cascading into spaces of human habitation.
Despite alerts being received by Government response systems they were tragically late, with some residents stating that they received messages on phones when already in life threatening situations (Science Media Centre 2024)
With the effects of the aftermath still being felt, this paper will concentrate on two objects of film footage posted to YouTube by El Mundo after the tragedy. Both objects involve King Felipe’ VI visits to Valencia province.
The first visit is to Paiporta on November 3rd five days after the catastrophe, while the second visit is to one of three areas in Valencia province, on November 12th fourteen days after the initial devastation.
This paper focuses on these objects involving King Felipe’ VI for the sole purpose that he is a Sovereign and both Head of State and Commander in Chief, therefore the highest authority in Spain and a highly prominent figure in the media.
The aim of this paper is to explicate the objects using pertinent theories from the philosopher, Jacques Rancière' “Ten Theses on Politics”
1.1 Hereditary Symbolism & The Social Contract
When we observe the concept or royalty and those whom it is apportioned, a line is often drawn to their past. Royalty is known for having a lineage that can be traced back chronologically to ancestors’ centuries ago. Such a perspective of linearity provides a fictionally comforting narrative that we can link with time, where humanity has a continuous place of prosperity and thereby will continue to do so (Lynch, 2016). The monarch is afforded luxurious living and impeccable education to rule in the best conceivable way. In this way an expectation, or social contract is formed (MacIntyre, 1984). Such a social contract requires everybody to play their role within the human construct of time for the creation of peace and order.
For the monarch, the symbolism of the two titles infers a distinct meaning. The Head of State, a diplomatic representation, symbolizes good relations and integrity for future prosperity. The Commander in Chief, a representation of ultimate command of the armed forces, symbolizes strength and defence against bad will (Moncloa, 2024)
1.2 The Two Politics
With such dualistic roles it is important to determine what we are referring to by the term ‘Politics.’
There is the politics that makes decisions on governing society, which we will call ‘Traditional Politics’ moving forward. This is the politics that we see in the media via public debate, official announcements, forums, conferences, and diplomatic visits. In this politics, the message by the monarch and their representatives are of happenings being orderly, controlled and organised against timely tasks where innovative solutions can be forecast, created, and developed. In this politics, the police uphold the status quo.
In contrast, there is the politics that Jacques Ranciere describes.
In this politics disruption of the status quo is the politics. People assert their power as equals with a behaviour that is lacking traditional order, uncontrollable by authority and unified by a setting that has required a uniquely common response.
This politics, which we will call ‘Ranciere Politics’ moving forward, creates an aesthetic disorder that challenges the very essence of that which humanity defines as ‘order,’ thereby revealing it as a fictional construct. In this politics, it is unpoliceable.
2.0 Objective Analysis
Though theoretical, Jacques Ranciere’ ten theses on politics discuss elements of humanity that Nature has the power to catalyse.
Despite the severity of warnings over years many leaders continue to provide a traditional politics attitude to climate issues (BBC News, 2024). In El Mundo’s two films, which we will observe now in chronological order, the catalyst of nature combined with unsatisfactory response from officials is key to understanding the unrest.
2.1 Disorderly Consensus: Ranciere Politics
2.1.1 Politics as Distinct from Governance / 2.1.2 Politics as the space of disagreement Inaudible, unordered, pixelated and unframeable.
From the beginning we are aware that this is not a performance for the camera. Shakily shot on a mobile phone, it is an intensely aesthetic situation without the polishing of traditional monarchical representation in the media. In fact, the footage shows such anarchy that a caption is needed at the beginning to provide insight. “The visit of the Kings, Mazon and Sanchez to Valencia was interrupted after a shower of objects and mud on the procession.”
This solidifies Ranciere’ first two theses - We are immediately aware that traditional governance does not exist here. This is governance by the people who are unleashing their disagreement with hellish fury.
2.1.3 Politics is about equality / 2.1.4 Politics requires staging a wrong
In the first ten seconds of the footage, those that have been charged with guarding the monarch and therefore protecting order. i.e. The Police, look visibly nervous, unknowing how to enact the usual authoritative order. In an absolute role reversal, it is the Police attempting to keep the monarch as an equal to the community. The environment is now a stage for the frustration of excluded voices. The monarch is now illegal with no right to rule or be heard.
2.1.5 The Police Order is not Politics / 2.1.6 Politics Disrupts the Police Order
Whilst these two theses reveal themselves proper in ‘traditional politics,’ it is worth noting here that such disruption is what Jacques Ranciere calls politics. Here, the police have taken on the role of the public and are receivers of a new order identified by the people.
2.1.7 Politics Creates a Subject
In the aftermath of Nature’s destruction and institutional response or lack thereof, a particular subject has been created by the community for the community. This is not something to put in a line for debate in parliament. Rather, the subject matter is so severe, it is being heard in the forum of Ground Zero itself.
Also interesting is the subtle creation of a new subject by El Mundo via the only edit of the footage, at 1m 34s. At this point, El Mundo switches from footage of the monarch in the crowd where he is being berated in mid-shot by an adult to a close-up frame of the monarch with members of the community’s younger generation. They look pleading rather than angry and it is a subtle change that creates a narrative of the monarch listening to concern. Whilst we have no access to the unedited footage this edit is an interesting change of frame from absolute dissensus to discourse for resolution.
2.1.8 Politics is Rare / 2.1.9 Politics is Universal / 2.1.10 Politics is an Aesthetic Art
With social media and camera phones this footage became Worldwide news instantly. The event is universal and deeply aesthetic in its exposition of the usual behaviour toward monarchy. In this footage what has been captured is a moment that is unthinkable and rare in society, typified by sporadic insults near camera that unify to a universal chant - ‘Asesino’ - translated as ‘Murderer.’
2.2 Violence Restored: Traditional Politics
2.2.1 Politics as Distinct from Governance / 2.2.2 Politics as the space of disagreement
If Ranciere politics frames absolute anarchy this is the opposite. The similarities start and end with the video being shot on mobile phone.
What is now being filmed has clearly been planned with governance existing once more. There is no pixelation and a temperament of calm consensus is restored.
The monarch, previously drowned out from speaking, is now the only voice heard. and all dissensus is pointed toward faith in the camouflage clad army, or police, in the backdrop.
2.2.3 Politics is about equality / 2.2.4 Politics requires staging a wrong
The media coverage makes it easy to assume that equality is being restored. In fact, what is being restored is inequality through assurances that the anesthetising order has returned. There are no questions from community members who staged their unrest previously. Instead, the filming reinstates a healing of a social contract gone wrong with no members of the marginalised community involved.
2.2.5 The Police Order is not Politics / 2.2.6 Politics Disrupts the Police Order
The police order here could be considered slightly unnerving. It is so aesthetic that it almost anaesthetizes via its over stimulation, as if we are seeing one uniformed being rather than individuals, unknowing on whether the group offers us a symbol of safety or total command.
This could be perceived as a deeply anaesthetic show of power, with an overindulgence to reestablishing the control of a ‘normal’ fiction.
2.2.7 Politics Creates a Subject
El Mundo provides further context to the subject it began in the previous footage by evolving the connection of the monarch with the public via the content of the monarch’s announcement, which is clearly staged. The caption for the video provides further order, detailing the schedule for the day in a bid for further reassurance.
The subject is now reframed as faith in authority despite the deeper reasons for such unrest.
2.2.8 Politics is Rare / 2.2.9 Politics is Universal / 2.2.10 Politics is an Aesthetic Art
Despite a similar number of views on the El Mundo YouTube page, this footage is not shared as widely by Global news outlets. To Jacques Ranciere, this would no longer be politics even though it seems as such. Rather, through this footage El Mundo are supporting the monarch’s imagery resurrection, reinstating him visually as Commander in Chief by providing the stage for regular planned responses.
3.0 Biopolitics and Systemic Exclusion
When observing the objects and those involved, it is important to consider reasons for such unrest. Paiporta is considered a small town with an elderly population where this level of incident rarely occurs. The regional Valencian government when informed of the floods set a ‘level 2’ alert despite the potential severity.
A ‘level 3’ alert would have meant Central Government control and a reorganisation of resources as well as recognition that the Regional Government needed support. This might have worked better for the people of Paiporta but may also have been considered weak for leadership (The Diplomat in Spain, 2024).
It is the decisions behind such traditional politics that Nature exposed in this case, leading to mass instability for a small town. However, it is important to remember that Instability is a regular occurrence for many people where the mere concept of a home does not exist (Mbembe, 2024). Nature has a way of readdressing the aesthetic and exposing bureaucratic responses against a capitalist continuation that scientists warn is a threat to our very existence.