Chevannes, author of many articles and another book on Rastas, edits and contributes to this volume. His thesis is that Rastafari should be seen simultaeneously as a "continuance of and departure from" Revivalism, an Afro-Carribean folk religion. The other scholars in this text agree with Chevannes, and they probe the relationships of transformation in these and other religious movements.
Four topics stand out for treatment in this work---Rastafari language construction, the origin of Dreadlocks with the arrival of the Youth Black Faith, the psychoanalytic treatment of the meaning of Dreads, and the chapter on Women's discourse on Possession in Surinamese Creole.
Chevannes excels here in the areas he is known for best, Rasta symbolism and history.