Colonial Switzerland

States without former colonies, it has been argued, were intensely involved in colonial practices. This anthology looks at Switzerland, which, by its very strong economic involvements with colonialism, its doctrine of neutrality, and its transnationally entangled scientific community, constitutes a perfect case in point.

Patricia Purtschert is Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, and a philosopher. Her areas of research are feminist, gender, queer, postcolonial and cultural studies. Together with Barbara Lüthi and Francesca Falk, she has co-edited the volume Postkoloniale Schweiz: Formen und Folgen eines Kolonialismus ohne Kolonien (2012, 2nd edition 2013). Harald Fischer-Tiné is Professor of Global History at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. He has published widely on South Asian history and the history of colonialism and imperialism. His latest monograph is the biography of a diasporic Indian revolutionary: Shyamji Krishnavarma: Sanskrit, Sociology and Anti-Imperialism (2014).