I want to understand how people resist white supremacy and racial capitalism across borders. To this end, I am studying the life and work of Anton de Kom, an Afro-Surinamese labour organizer active in the 1930s. He tried to build multiracial coalitions to fight for the liberation of colonized and exploited peoples in Suriname, the Netherlands, and beyond.

 

In his seminal work, Wij Slaven van Suriname (We Slaves of Suriname), Anton de Kom developed new forms of scholarship to recognize the ways enslaved people, indentured workers, maroons and Indigenous peoples engage in resistance to slavery and colonial rule. A beautiful, short English translation of the book's last chapter is available here and a full translation of We Slaves was published in English in 2022.

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While his work and life are rarely studied in International Relations, I believe that students and teachers of world politics can learn a lot from Anton de Kom’s transnational activist scholarship. I'll post updates on my research on this page.