Abstract
The Maroons of Suriname enter the twenty-? rst century as the only surviving, culturally and politically autonomous Maroon communities in the Americas. The paper adopts a world-systems approach to explain the evolution of the Surinamese Maroon nations vis-à-vis the ever expanding Surinamese state and global political economy, with particular attention paid to the cultural survival of the Maroon nations. Prior to emancipation, limited colonial integration and mutual fear between the Maroons and Surinamese coastal society facilitated the development of the Maroon communities as relatively independent nations. Despite the best efforts of colonial authorities after emancipation, the weak economy and infrastructure of the Surinamese colony as well as continued mutual fear and distrust enabled the Maroons to guard their autonomy. However, after the Second World War, a period of global economic expansion, the rapid development of the Suriname as an integrated political, economic and cultural unit, and the depletion of and strain on natural resources in traditional Maroon territory dealt serious blows to Maroon autonomy. Maroon cultural survival depends on the ability of the Maroon nations to navigate the rapid changes currently affecting Maroon society, guarding political autonomy and cultivating the most treasured aspects of their cultural heritage, while participating, albeit peripherally, in modern global capitalism.
Highlights
The Maroons of Suriname enter the twenty-first century as the only surviving, culturally and politically autonomous Maroon communities in the Americas
The Saramacca, Matawai and Kwinti of south-central Suriname, and the Ndjuka, Paramacca and Aluku of the southeastern region remain distinct tribal entities whose autonomous political status finds support in eighteenth and nineteenth-century peace treaties and in historical relations between the coastal government centered in Paramaribo and the leaders of the different tribes
While the Maroons successfully defended their autonomy during the fledgling years of tribal development and during the period prior to emancipation, efforts to integrate the Maroons into coastal society and the growth of economic opportunities on the coast, since the end of the Second World War, have undermined the traditional autonomy of the various tribes
Summary
The Maroons of Suriname enter the twenty-first century as the only surviving, culturally and politically autonomous Maroon communities in the Americas. In Suriname, six Maroon societies maintain linguistic, cultural and political norms that differ considerably from those of the urbanized and densely populated coastal region.
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