"House-ing" the river. Trans-border configurations of houses on the lower Marowijne (French Guyana/ Suriname)
Abstract
The Marowijne river is a porous border between French Guyana, part of the European Union, and Surinam, which is now independent. It has historically been populated by people resistant to colonialism, Amerindians and Maroons, since it has been a space at the margins of the colonies of Guyana and Surinam. Nowadays, people living on the lower Marowijne develop ways of dwellings on both parts of the frontier. Critically building on Louis Marcelin's concept of configuration of houses, this paper will show how people not only move across the river, but are "house-ing" that border, dwelling on both sides in spite of European repressive politics of bordering. Drawing on ethnographic data, I will first describe life trajectories of people I met in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, across both sides of the river. Second, the configurations of houses they currently live in, that materialize active and chosen kinship ties, are trans-border: they encompass houses on both banks, as well as in spaces faraway, upper river or in Surinamese or Guyanese main cities. Third, I will focus on how fuzzy these configurations are: constantly changing, they are shaped by conflicts, which are manifest in the processes of building, modifying, renting the houses.
Bio
Clémence Léobal is a Third-Year PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University René Descartes in Paris. She is working on urban ways of living and housing policies in Saint-Laurent du Maroni (French Guyana), under supervision of Anne Gotman (University René Descartes, Cerlis) and Benoît de L’Estoile (CNRS, Iris). In 2012, she obtained a Master of Arts (M.A) in Social Sciences at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, analyzing the housing project of La Charbonnière in Saint-Laurent du Maroni. She has been living in Saint-Laurent du Maroni from 2009 to 2011, working for the townhall’s museum project. Her first historical research has been published at Ibis Rouge, under the title: Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni: Une porte sur le fleuve (2013). For her doctoral research, she conducted three research fieldworks living in peripheral neighborhoods of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
[email protected]
The Marowijne river is a porous border between French Guyana, part of the European Union, and Surinam, which is now independent. It has historically been populated by people resistant to colonialism, Amerindians and Maroons, since it has been a space at the margins of the colonies of Guyana and Surinam. Nowadays, people living on the lower Marowijne develop ways of dwellings on both parts of the frontier. Critically building on Louis Marcelin's concept of configuration of houses, this paper will show how people not only move across the river, but are "house-ing" that border, dwelling on both sides in spite of European repressive politics of bordering. Drawing on ethnographic data, I will first describe life trajectories of people I met in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, across both sides of the river. Second, the configurations of houses they currently live in, that materialize active and chosen kinship ties, are trans-border: they encompass houses on both banks, as well as in spaces faraway, upper river or in Surinamese or Guyanese main cities. Third, I will focus on how fuzzy these configurations are: constantly changing, they are shaped by conflicts, which are manifest in the processes of building, modifying, renting the houses.
Bio
Clémence Léobal is a Third-Year PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University René Descartes in Paris. She is working on urban ways of living and housing policies in Saint-Laurent du Maroni (French Guyana), under supervision of Anne Gotman (University René Descartes, Cerlis) and Benoît de L’Estoile (CNRS, Iris). In 2012, she obtained a Master of Arts (M.A) in Social Sciences at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, analyzing the housing project of La Charbonnière in Saint-Laurent du Maroni. She has been living in Saint-Laurent du Maroni from 2009 to 2011, working for the townhall’s museum project. Her first historical research has been published at Ibis Rouge, under the title: Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni: Une porte sur le fleuve (2013). For her doctoral research, she conducted three research fieldworks living in peripheral neighborhoods of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
[email protected]