Building a Nation Through Education? Suriname, 1850–1950

Resumen

In this paper, it is argued that in the process of state and society formation since the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colony of Suriname, education became a crucial mediating institution between the colonial state and society. A differentiated education system had to ensure that the colonial status quo of this plantation economy was not disturbed, while at the same time functioning as a vehicle for "sponsored mobility" for those who wanted to make a career in the colonial system. Meanwhile, the same educational system provided the intellectual means to oppose that colonial status quo. Education became a means as well as a goal for personal and (ethnic) group emancipation and, as a consequence, played an important role in the transition of the colonial state. On the other hand, this same colonial state successfully used the education system to keep the different ethnic groups divided, thereby hindering a process of supra-ethnic nation-building.