Tracing slavery. The Politics of Atlantic Memory in The Netherlands

This book offers a fascinating study of the often implicit ways in which the memory of slavery affects present-day relations in the Bijlmer, a suburb of Amsterdam that since the 1970s became ever more marked by Afro-Surinamese presence.

Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam

Looking at the ways in which the memory of slavery affects present-day relations in Amsterdam, this ethnographic account reveals a paradox: while there is growing official attention to the country’s slavery past (monuments, festivals, ritual occasions), many interlocutors showed little interest in the topic. Developing the notion of “trace” as a seminal notion to explore this paradox, this book follows the issue of slavery in everyday realities and offers a fine-grained ethnography of how people refer to this past – often in almost unconscious ways – and weave it into their perceptions of present-day issues.

Markus Balkenhol is a researcher at Meertens Institute. His most recent publications include Atlantic Perspectives: Places, Spirits and Heritage, co-edited with Ruy Llera Blanes and Ramon Sarró, (2019, Berghahn Books).

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Politics of Autochthony
Chapter 2. Negotiating Colonial Geographies
Chapter 3. Practices of Diaspora
Chapter 4. Kaskawina – Politics of a Lower Frequency
Chapter 5. Doing Cultural Heritage: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Authentication

Conclusion