1. Collective identities on a roundabout
A case study into representations in public space
Paper submitted for Dag van de Sociologie 2013
Paper is a shortened version of a chapter in Ph.D-thesis on processes of appropriation of public (?) space.
All pictures taken by the author. For acknowledgement of sources used, please contact the author.
All citations are translated from Dutch.
Linda Zuijderwijk, zuijderwijk@fsw.eur.nl

2. Amsterdam – Surinam Square
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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Source: Google Maps, 2012

3. Q:
How are collective identities imagined (i.e. voiced, negotiated,
organized, accommodated) through the spatial and practical
representation in urban public space?
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4. Surinam Square as a space of remembrance
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5. A:
Various forms of collective identities are dynamically and
relationally re-constructed on the basis of spatial and practical
representations on Surinam Square.
 Counter-hegemonic – Hegemonic representation
 Citizenship – Ethnic segregation
 Exclusive – inclusive representation in public space
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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6. A formalized counter-monument and event…
From counter-hegemonic to hegemonic
Roy Ristie (initiator):
‘The various ethnicities are processed in the trunk
of the tree, indicating the diversity […] – looking
at the leaves, the Netherlands, Surinam and the
Antilles, having a joint history, are a family – and
remember, blood is thicker than water […]’.
Elvira Sweet (city-councillor and ‘a prominent from
the Surinamese community’): ‘I think I can justly
state that I politically made out a case for it […]’.
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7. …used to communicate local citizenship…
Identification with Amsterdam
Alderman for Diversity:
‘Recent research of the Free University teaches us
that many Amsterdammers were themselves
owners of slaves, working via intermediaries on
the plantations in Surinam, for example. And
these are not just the rich Amsterdammers, but
also the ordinary man’ (italics in original).
‘The realization of the history of this city of which
the history of slavery is part, bonds
Amsterdammers of diverse backgrounds and
ethnicity with each other. I am talking about
Citizenship, every Amsterdammer, all of us
standing here as citizens of this city.
Irrespective of age, origin, sexual inclination,
religion or ethnicity’.
‘It is the task of the Council of Amsterdam to create
a basis of communality, of solidarity, for all
those differences, this diversity. That is why we
are standing here today, together. To remember
our shared past’.
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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8. …(thus, literally, by the use of public space)…
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9. …and the public experiences ethnic segregation.
The event as form of exclusive representation in public space
Man (1940), born in the Netherlands:
‘Today is the remembrance of the abolition of
slavery, over there. […] There actually is quite
some solidarity. I will not go there myself, I have
nothing to do with Suriname, and by the way
also not with Asian countries. I do like Greece, I
like to go there […]It is like, it is 350 years ago
that your grandpa died, that is not something
you are going to commemorate, right? We do
not all the time have to bring up what
happened?’.
Man (1985), born in Morocco :
‘That is the Surinamese celebration, the
independency. That is what the statue
represents. It is about the abolition of slavery. It
really is something for them, the Surinamese. In
itself, I would like to go there, but I do not know
whether I am welcome or not. I do not know if it
is really necessary, there has been no slavery
since two centuries. It should be possible,
though. […] There is a cozy atmosphere, and
there is a lot of food. It is something for their
own culture’.
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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10. Summarizing
Q: How are collective identities imagined (i.e. voiced, negotiated,
organized, accommodated) through the spatial and practical
representation in urban public space?
A: Various forms of collective identities are dynamically and
relationally re-constructed on the basis of spatial and practical
representations on Surinam Square.
A formalized counter-monument and event…
…used to communicate local citizenship…
…(thus, literally, by the use of public space)…
…and the public experiences ethnic segregation.
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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11. (Thank you)
Q:
collective identities
local citizenship ethnic segregation
‘It is certainly true that “[we] know of no people without names, no languages or cultures in which some
manner of distinctions between self and other, we and they are not made.” But it is not clear why this
implies the ubiquity of identity, unless we dilute “identity” to the point of designating all practices involving
naming and self-other distinctions’ (Brubaker & Cooper 2000: 13 – 14).
From: Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond "identity". Theory and Society, 29, 1 - 47.
5/30/2013 Dag van de Sociologie 2013. Draft. Please
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