Visions of Zion

In

reggae song after reggae song Bob Marley and other reggae singers speak of the

Promised Land of Ethiopia. "Repatriation is a must!" they cry. The Rastafari

have been travelling to Ethiopia since the movement originated in Jamaica in

1930s. They consider it the Promised Land, and repatriation is a

cornerstone of their faith. Though Ethiopians see Rastafari as immigrants, the

Rastafari see themselves as returning members of the Ethiopian diaspora.

In Visions of Zion, Erin C. MacLeod offers the first in-depth

investigation into how Ethiopians perceive Rastafari and

Rastafarians within Ethiopia and the role this unique immigrant

community plays within Ethiopian society.

Rastafari

are unusual among migrants, basing their movements on spiritual rather than

economic choices. This volume offers those who study the movement a broader

understanding of the implications of repatriation. Taking the Ethiopian

perspective into account, it argues that migrant and diaspora identities

are the products of negotiation, and it illuminates the implications of this

negotiation for concepts of citizenship, as well as for our understandings of

pan-Africanism and south-south migration. Providing a rare look at migration to a non-Western country, this volume

also fills a gap in the broader immigration studies literature.