“Eating from both countries”: inhabiting the Maroni River, Europe’s Amazonian border (Guyana/Suriname)

Résumé 0

‪The Maroni River basin constitutes a porous border, but also and above all a living space that is populated by mobile inhabitants, who frequently move from one bank to the other. This article traces the evolution of this border since its creation in colonial times. The daily relationship to the space of the river has been historically constructed by the exchanges between the two banks, despite and with the existence of the cartographic border of the metropolis. The article continues with an analysis of the current life paths of Maroon inhabitants, analysing the disruption caused by the Surinamese civil war between 1986 and 1992. Today, cross-border lifestyles still exist on the Maroni, whether in terms of modes of transportation, ways of speaking, or consumption practices. This text is based on historical and ethnographic data collected from Maroon inhabitants of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.‪