Francio Guadeloupe

Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (b. 1971) is a social and cultural anthropologist.

In 1999, Guadeloupe obtained his Master’s degree in Development Studies at the University of Nijmegen, based on his research on the Afro-Brazilian cults Candomblé and Umbanda in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia (Brazil). On the basis of his dissertation Guadeloupe has published two books: A vida e uma dança – The Candomble Through the Lives of Two Cariocas (Nijmegen, CIDI, 1999), and Dansen om te leven: over Afro-Braziliaanse cultuur en religie (Luyten & Babar, 1999). In 2006, he completed his PhD in social and cultural anthropology from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) where he leads the program group Globalising Culture and the Quest for Belonging.

Guadeloupe’s principle areas of research have been on the manner in which nationalism, multiculturality, media, and religion continue to be impacted by the long colonial moment and global capital. He has pursued these interests in his research and publications on social processes on the bi-national island of Saint Martin (French) / Sint Maarten (Dutch), Brazil, Aruba, and the Netherlands. His roots and routes connect the French, Dutch, English, and Spanish speaking Caribbean as he was born on the Dutch West Indian Island of Aruba and has lived most of his life in Europe. His book, Chanting Down the New Jerusalem: Calypso, Christianity & Capitalism in the Caribbean, was published by the University of California Press in 2010.

Guadeloupe has participated in several public programs at Framer Framed, such as being a guest speaker The Exotic View debate about the role of cultural memory organizations in a multi cultural society in 2010, and for the symposium Shared Heritage: Theory and Practice in 2011, discussing the traces of Dutch colonial history in the Netherlands and the former Dutch colonies overseas.

Currently, Dr. Guadeloupe is researching the culturalisation of citizenship in Europe; the growing conflation of ethno-racial nationalist discourse with civic understandings of citizenship. He pursues this by charting the ways in which European citizens hailing from the non-independent Caribbean (French, Dutch and British territories) perceive current trends in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.