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To English-speaking historians, the author of this book, a Dutchman who for many years now finds his base at the University of Florida, became well known when his The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast, 158~I680 was published in 1972. At that time Professor Goslinga, who prior to his academic career in the United States, lived for an extended period in Cura~ao, Netherlands Antilles, had already acquired a solid reputation among Dutch Caribbeanists by his manifold publications on social, political and maritime aspects of Dutch West Indian history. By his training, interests and present position, Dr. Goslinga would seem to me to be singularly well-equipped to write a comprehensive history - geared to an English-speaking university public - of what was once known as the Netherlands West Indies. The present book is the product of this professional equipment and of his long teaching experience. It should go a long way in filling the old and wide gap in historical information on this part of the former Dutch empire, and I hope an equally wide but younger audience will appreciate it.
For review see: R.F. Pieternella, in Caribbean studies, vol. 10, no. 1 (1970); p. 115-116; F.E.M. Mitrasing, in Justicia, jrg. 5, no. 3 (1969); p. 83-84.
First Published in 1990. This volume of essays on the Dutch Caribbean considers areas that are of increasing importance on the international scene and on which little has been written. The Dutch Caribbean shares many of the features of the French-, Spanish- and English-speaking Caribbean. Like these other linguistic zones, the Dutch Caribbean emerged from a history of slavery and colonialism with economies rooted in, or characterized by, the plantation system.
This classic study was originally published in 1949 in Dutch as Samenleving in een grensgebied. This English translation is based on a second revised Dutch edition from 1971. The point of departure is J.S. Furnivall’s concept of ‘plural society’ to sketch the historical development of Suriname. The author focuses on the social relations that determined life in the colony. In the final part, discussing the period from the abolition of slavery to World War II, relatively more attention is given to the Creoles or Afro-Surinamese than to the populations of Asian descent, because the influence exercised by the Creole group during that period was predominant.
In the months immediately preceding Surinam's independence, November 25, 1975, warning signals went up on both sides of the Atlantic. This small, ethnically plural society was torn by severe political conflict. Elections in November 1973 had brought an end to political collaboration between Creoles and Hindustanis, the country's two largest ethnic groups; and the Creoles, now in control of the government, were resolutely pushing (over Hindustani opposition) to sever their colonial ties with the Netherlands. But defections from the Creole benches during the summer of 1975 had produced a virtual stalemate in the legislature, heightening fears that the government would act unilaterally. The failure of Creole and Hindustani leaders to resolve their differences led many observers in both the Netherlands and Surinam to predict a collapse of democracy and/or violent conflict once independence was proclaimed. Ironically, the dramatic, last-minute resolution of the struggle precipitated not only general jubilation and relief, but also self-congratulation, as the leaders of Surinam's multiethnic society, long priding themselves on achieve ments in harmonious understanding, pulled out all stops in their indepen dence day oratory. No-one could forget the nightmare of the preceding few years. But neither could anyone familiar with Surinam's historical develop ment flatly reject the rhetoric as being without some foundation. In fact, Surinam, while severely tested by the most complex multi-ethnic population in the Caribbean, does have a record of which she can be proud and which deserves to be more widely known.