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The Evolution of Afro‐Surinamese National Movements (1955‐1995)
Author(s) -
Lamur Humphrey E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
transforming anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.325
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 1548-7466
pISSN - 1051-0559
DOI - 10.1525/tran.2001.10.1.17
Subject(s) - taboo , politics , movement (music) , colonialism , gender studies , political science , sociology , political economy , law , aesthetics , art
The aim of the paper is to examine the development of the Afro‐movement in Suriname between 1955 and 1995. To do so, from the end of 1999 to mid‐2000, data were collected in Suriname as well as in the Netherlands by holding interviews, attending group discussions, and analyzing documents. In the 1950s, nationalistic organizations were established that questioned the Dutch Colonial policy for despising the Surinamese culture as backward. At the same time Afro‐Surinamese organizations also emerged with the goal of promoting the Afro‐Surinamese culture. The movement passed through three stages: between 1954 and 1980, the movement's activities were aimed at the enhancement of the Afro‐Surinamese culture. The second stage of the Afro‐Surinamese movement started in the early 1980s, following major political and economic changes in Suriname. One of the movement's achievements in the second stage was the breakdown of the taboo on public discussion of the slavery issues by the end of the 1980s. This ushered in the third stage in the development of the Afro‐Surinamese movement, which started in the early 1990s. Since then, the movement's activities are aimed at the widespread social acceptance of the Afro‐Surinamese culture.