The chair is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was established in consultation with the Anton de Kom Foundation and the Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS). The chair focuses on the historical processing of the Dutch slavery past and is a gesture from the Dutch government for the rehabilitation of Anton de Kom. Building on De Kom's ideas, the chair bridges the gap between the Netherlands and Suriname and between Humanities and Law.
The chair encompasses the colonial past in a broad sense, including the slavery past, in the study of historical and contemporary societal issues, with special attention to themes such as legal equality, lack of rights and legal restoration, migration, racism, and discrimination, citizenship, and processes of inclusion and exclusion. The chair aims to intensify cooperation with the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. Professor Guno Jones carries out the work partly from VU Amsterdam and partly from AdeKUS.
Interdisciplinary work
Jones's work is interdisciplinary. In approaching the chair, he draws inspiration from historical, social science, and legal perspectives. He has studied the history of Dutch political discourse on citizenship, post-colonial migration, and national identity, and the legislation associated with it. He has also conducted research on the heritage and public memory of World War II in the Netherlands and former colonies.
Currently, he is studying the political discourse on 'mixed relationships' in colonial times and in the European Union, along with the related policies. His interests also include the public engagement with colonialism and slavery in the Netherlands, as well as the legal history of conquest, slavery, and contract labor.
De Kom's societal engagement and contributions to a deeper understanding of colonialism and its lasting effects emphasize the crucial importance of a situated approach to knowledge formation. "He showed like no one else how knowledge about society and history depends on the position we take, consistently taking the position of the oppressed as the starting point for describing and interpreting 'reality.'"
A dignified existence
De Kom's family has also emphasized this duality of De Kom's contribution in their long struggle for recognition. Judith de Kom wrote, "His philosophy of life [was] a direct rejection of poverty, oppression, and exploitation (...) De Kom managed, for a short time, to bring different population groups together in a struggle for a dignified existence."
Susan Legêne (dean of the Faculty of Humanities): "This Anton de Kom chair, along with initiatives such as a Transatlantic academic workshop, anchors multiple perspectives on the colonial past and its contemporary impact in our historical and legal education and research. The broad support for the chair at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname gives it a promising start."
Shanti Venetiaan (Chair of the Board of the Anton de Kom University of Suriname): "The chair bears the same name as our university, which has naturally established a connection between the two. We hope and expect that this chair will make a scholarly contribution to the dissemination of Anton de Kom's ideas, and we will fulfill this role in cooperation with VU Amsterdam."
Mission of the Chair
The chair explicitly focuses on the historical processing of the slavery past and its contemporary impact on social and cultural relations, legal frameworks, and transnational communities. The core of the teaching assignment includes research in four areas: 1) the long-standing struggle for recognition of the slavery and colonial past, especially by the descendants of former enslaved people and contract laborers; 2) the impact of slavery, other forms of forced labor, and inferior citizenship and colonialism on contemporary forms of systemic exclusion and racism, particularly in areas of migration, citizenship, and law; 3) The consequences of colonialism for contemporary relations between the Netherlands and Suriname, and 4) the pursuit of justice and restoration for the suffering caused by slavery and colonialism, especially in relation to the relationships between Suriname, the Caribbean region, and the Netherlands.