Tuesday 10 February 2026 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Faculty of Divinity Lightfoot Room
Faculty of Divinity, Sidgwick Site, off West Road, Cambridge CB3 9BSWhat challenges and opportunities does the British Army face in appointing the first ever Rastafari chaplain to offer spiritual and pastoral care to diverse humans that make up its corps? An Inter-Religious Relations seminar with Dr Joseph Powell (Cambridge).
Gun emplacement, photographed by Joseph Powell (c2026)
About
Abstract
The British Army are presently in the process of appointing the first ever Rastafari chaplain to offer spiritual and pastoral care to diverse humans that make up its corps. As well as raising questions as to the nature of Rastafari philosophy and beliefs and their fit within the UK Armed Forces, this also presents the opportunity for comparative exercises that consider Rastafari chaplaincy alongside other majority/minority faith movements within the forces.
Based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork across UK Armed Forces sites, I will offer reflections on this and consider what unique challenges and opportunities are offered in Rastafari chaplaincy provision.
About the speaker
Dr Joseph Powell (Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge) is a religious studies scholar and British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow. His primary research focus is amongst Rastafari spirituality in the Caribbean and the UK and its encounters with environment, ecology and violence, as explored through ethnographic research methods.
His British Academy research project explores Rastafari encounters with violence, both physical and cosmological, through ethnographic research amongst Rastafari serving in the UK Armed Forces. The project utilises unprecedented fieldwork access to examine how Rastafari military personnel navigate discrimination, gendered norms and the environmentally destructive nature of war to form their dual identity.
Joseph’s PhD explored Rastafari ecologies and environmental ethics through ethnographic fieldwork in St Lucia/Iyanola. This built on his MPhil research which explored contemporary dietary practice amongst Rastafari communities in Jamaica and the UK.
Joseph has an overarching interest in engaging Indigenous epistemologies with hegemonic Western ideas around climate change in pursuit of sensitive and novel approaches for the future. He also maintains an active interest in the interaction between faith and football.
About this event
This event is part of the Inter-Religious Research seminar series, convened by Professor Esra Özyürek on behalf of CIP and the Faculty of Divinity. All are welcome.