Resistance Through Rituals


Book Description

First published in 1989. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




Rituals of Resistance


Book Description

In Rituals of Resistance Jason R. Young explores the religious and ritual practices that linked West-Central Africa with the Lowcountry region of Georgia and South Carolina during the era of slavery. The choice of these two sites mirrors the historical trajectory of the transatlantic slave trade which, for centuries, transplanted Kongolese captives to the Lowcountry through the ports of Charleston and Savannah. Analyzing the historical exigencies of slavery and the slave trade that sent not only men and women but also cultural meanings, signs, symbols, and patterns across the Atlantic, Young argues that religion operated as a central form of resistance against slavery and the ideological underpinnings that supported it. Through a series of comparative chapters on Christianity, ritual medicine, burial practices, and transmigration, Young details the manner in which Kongolese people, along with their contemporaries and their progeny who were enslaved in the Americas, utilized religious practices to resist the savagery of the slave trade and slavery itself. When slaves acted outside accepted parameters—in transmigration, spirit possession, ritual internment, and conjure—Young explains, they attacked not only the condition of being a slave, but also the systems of modernity and scientific rationalism that supported slavery. In effect, he argues, slave spirituality played a crucial role in the resocialization of the slave body and behavior away from the oppressions and brutalities of the master class. Young's work expands traditional scholarship on slavery to include both the extensive work done by African historians and current interdisciplinary debates in cultural studies, anthropology, and literature. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources from both American and African archives, including slave autobiography, folktales, and material culture, Rituals of Resistance offers readers a nuanced understanding of the cultural and religious connections that linked blacks in Africa with their enslaved contemporaries in the Americas. Moreover, Young's groundbreaking work gestures toward broader themes and connections, using the case of the Kongo and the Lowcountry to articulate the development of a much larger African Atlantic space that connected peoples, cultures, languages, and lives on and across the ocean's waters.




The Teds


Book Description




Cultural Studies in the Future Tense


Book Description

Lawrence Grossberg, one of the most influential figures in cultural studies, assesses the mission of cultural studies as a discipline in the past, present and future




Reggae Rastas and Rudies


Book Description




Manipulating the Sacred


Book Description

The first art historical study of Yoruba-descended African Brazilian religious art based on an author's long-term participation in and observation of private and public rituals. At a time when the art of the African diaspora has aroused much general interest for its multicultural dimensions, Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara contributes strikingly rich insights as a participant/observer in the African-based religions of Brazil. She focuses on the symbolism and function of ritual objects and costumes used in the Brazilian Candomblé (miniature "African" environments or temples) of the Bahia region, which combine Yorùbá, Bantu/Angola, Caboclo, Roman Catholic, and/or Kardecist/Spiritist elements. An initiate herself with more than twenty years of study, the author is considered an insider, and has witnessed how practitioners manipulate the "sacred" to encode, in art and ritual, vital knowledge about meaning, values, epistemologies, and history. She demonstrates how this manipulation provides Brazilian descendents of slaves with a sense of agency--with a link to their African heritage and a locus for resistance to the dominant Euro-Brazilian culture.




Magic for the Resistance


Book Description

"Inspires socially conscious magical practitioners to harness the power of our imaginations and collective will, reminding us where true power really resides: in the hands of the people."—Amanda Yates Garcia, the Oracle of Los Angeles Use Magic to Make the World a Better Place Today From the creator of the Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him The resistance is growing, and it needs your help. This book provides spells and rituals designed to help you put your magical will to work to create a more just and equitable world. These magical workings can be used by activists of any spiritual or religious background. With ideas for altars, meditations, community organizing, self-care, and more, Magic for the Resistance offers a toolkit for magical people or first-time spellcasters who want to manifest social justice, equality, and peace. If you've ever felt disillusioned or burned out because of the slow progress of social change, this magical work can nurture and support you, sharpening your focus and resolve for more sustained, long-term activism. In addition to influencing the outside world, these rituals bring you in closer alignment with your higher spiritual consciousness—because transforming your society begins with transforming yourself. Includes spells for: Racial justice Women's rights LGBTQ+ rights Antifascism Environmentalism Immigration Refugee support Nonviolence Praise: "Readers interested in the power of magic and dismayed by the tumultuous current political moment will want to give this enticing guide a look."—Publishers Weekly "Magic for the Resistance is a rabble-rousing battle cry for magical thinkers everywhere."—Amanda Yates Garcia, the Oracle of Los Angeles "This wonderfully engaging guide—one part history, one part grimoire—demonstrates how and why to combine spell work and activism to heal our society and get rid of our heel."—Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award–winning author of Occult America "This is rare combination of a how-to book that also gives a solid historical and cultural perspective on the uses of magic to resist political oppression. Sound and well-grounded both factually and magically, it's also well written and well informed."—Sabina Magliocco, Professor of Anthropology, University of British Columbia "Vote. Organize. March. Protest. Boycott. Resist. Be an activist for your beliefs. Then...put your magic where your mouth is! You might want to start by reading Magic for the Resistance."—Lon Milo DuQuette, author of Low Magick "Magic for the Resistance is a fascinating look at how the occult arts can be used to promote progressive politics and social change."—Gary Lachman, author of Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump "An eminently necessary guidebook for the magic-workers of our time."—David Salisbury, author of A Mystic Guide to Cleansing & Clearing "This book empowers the reader to liberate stagnancy and facilitate positive change, to feel/be heard, and to learn from obstacles and challenges that are encountered."—Fiona Horne, author of Witch "Michael Hughes has drawn on his erudition as well as his quarter-century of experience as a practicing magician to offer a complete manual of 'Warrior Magic' in the service of justice."—Leonard George, PhD, author of Crimes of Perception




Caliban and the Witch


Book Description

"Women, the body and primitive accumulation"--Cover.




Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution


Book Description

A new analysis of the origins of the Haitian Revolution, revealing the consciousness, solidarity, and resistance that helped it succeed.




Violent Night


Book Description

Why do our night-time cities seem to mix pleasure with violence? This is the time and place when cities are taken over by young men in search of alcohol, drugs, another club or a fight. Current public policy has patently failed to keep on top of the new trends in both consumption and destruction which make urban centres simultaneously seductive and dangerous. Violent Night uses powerful insider accounts to uncover the underlying causes and meanings of violence. Interviews with the police, the perpetrators and the victims of violence reveal the complex emotions that surround both the perpetration and resolution of crime. Violent Night shows that a new approach is needed to successfully rehabilitate a culture struggling and failing to deal with nihilism and escalating hostility.