47

The Marrons of Surinam and, to a certain extent, French Guiana, used to be considered as relic African societies in the New World. However, they are seen today more as communities developed directly from slavery and social formations that emerged from it. This article takes the case of the Ndjuka people to explore the validity of this theory It examines from both the social-historical and political angles the ways in which this society might have developed by way of the relations it has always maintained with the colonial and post-colonial worlds.