Colonial Switzerland

About this book

"A turn towards the 'colonial margins' can be observed lately within colonial and postcolonial studies. It has been argued that states without former colonies and their inhabitants shared colonial discourses and were intensely involved in colonial practices. This anthology looks at Switzerland, which constitutes a perfect case in point for a host of reasons: its strong economic involvement with imperial projects of other European countries, its transnationally entangled scientific community, its doctrine of neutrality, which, among other things, made the country attractive as operational base for anti-colonial activists, the significance of Swiss Christian missions as well of the secular development aid sector thereafter, and, last but not least, a palpable, though often denied racist discourse in contemporary public debates. This collection brings together the most exciting and challenging products of recent scholarship on colonial and postcolonial Switzerland and makes them available in English for the first time"--