Dr Joseph Powell is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow within the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, having previously served as a Lecturer at Birmingham Newman University and a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.
Joseph’s research primary research focus is Rastafari spirituality in the Caribbean and the UK. His recent PhD thesis explored Rastafari ecologies and ecotheologies through ethnographic fieldwork in St Lucia/Iyanola, with the emerging manuscript currently under consideration. Joseph has also produced several journal articles, conference papers and encyclopedia entries on Rastafari, ranging from dietary practices and hermeneutics to encounters with Covid-19.
Joseph’s British Academy funded research will explore Rastafari encounters with violence, both physical and cosmological. This project will include an online exploration and exposition of the ‘soundscapes’ that frame these interactions.
