Book signing with Boris Lama

C his book signing will be an opportunity for the historian, now in charge of inventory research at the Culture, Heritage and Identity Unit of the Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane (CTG), to talk us through the development and conclusions of his postgraduate thesis, which will be defended at the University of Guyana in September 2020.
Boris Lama has taken a particular interest in the political contradictions of the colonial system in French Guiana between 1830 and 1910. In this academic work, he highlights the formal nature of the introduction of liberal democracy in this territory under French administration. His historical analysis highlights the superficial nature, in many respects, of the granting of civic and political rights by the July Monarchy in 1830 and the Second Republic in 1848.

 

Local players play an essential role in this study, which covers almost a century. They are constantly demanding respect for the political rights that they are in fact denied, due to 'racial prejudice' backed up by the scientific guarantees of the nineteenth century. The history of this notability is analysed through numerous documents and a number of exemplary individual stories that embody the political and social issues at work in Guyanese society during the period covered.
Basically, the fundamental question of this study concerns the demand for republican equality and the political autonomy of a territory under colonial tutelage. This issue remains highly topical and is still the subject of much debate among the Guyanese population, who are calling for "the application of the principle of republican equality in social and political practices", as the author points out in the introduction to this academic study.
We invite you to come and discuss it!