Dr Eline Westra successfully defended her dissertation 'Claiming and Contesting Postcolonial Citizenship. Political Struggles over the Rights and Belonging of Surinamese-Dutch Citizens'.

Eline's dissertation delves into the legacies of colonialism in contemporary citizenship debates in the Netherlands, focusing on the experiences of Surinamese-Dutch citizens in the five decades following Suriname’s decolonisation (1975). It explores four key debates: family migration rights in the aftermath of decolonisation, the position of illegalised Surinamese nationals, pension inequalities stemming from colonial-era exclusions, and intersectional discrimination in the welfare state. While formal political discourses were dominated by notions of non-belonging, racist Othering and the denial of a postcolonial present, the dissertation also shows how activist citizens have challenged exclusionary policies and offered alternative visions on postcolonial citizenship.

The dissertation can be found in the UvA publication database.