Between Broken Dreams and New Hopes: Independence, inequality, and the future through Surinamese’s voices
📍Online via Zoom
👉 Inscription: Suriname at 50
ℹ️ Event in English
Fifty years after independence (1975 – 2025), Suriname stands at a crossroads. This conversation brings together Surinamese from different fields to examine how colonial legacies and post-independence politics still shape everyday life – through the intersections of ethnicity, class, gender, and migration.
We will discuss the exodus around independence, the persistence of ethnic party politics, the marginalization of Indigenous and Maroon communities, the strain on education and health, the transnational Surinamese diaspora, and the high expectations around offshore oil. Critical yet respectful, the event asks what “nation-building” can mean today – and what a fair distribution of future wealth would look like.
Why now?
2025 is not just an anniversary; it’s a moment to reckon with authoritarian memories, economic boom-and-bust cycles, and new extractive frontiers. Can Suriname avoid the resource curse and strengthen democratic institutions?
We look forward to your attendance!
For any questions or comments, please contact us at: kontakt@lateinamerikaforum-berlin.de
An event organized by LAF Berlin and ila Bonn.
Foto Credits: Gaby Küppers, Anton-de-Kom-Denkmal
