Category: Portrait

”I hope that our research project can help shift the way we think about politics in Switzerland.”

Can you explain your research area in three sentences?

Mostly, I am interested in the role that emotions – particularly feelings of belonging – play in Swiss politics, especially among conservative voters. We all need to make sense of our affective understanding of the world, and to do so we rely heavily on myths and stories: they provide powerful narratives to make sense of our feelings, and they help to unite the myriad of very personal, individual interpretations of the world under solidified, clearly delineated group identities. On a more meta-level, I look at the relationship between academic and everyday language, and how concepts change as they travel between the two.

What key questions would you like to answer in your case study?

Many people in Switzerland seem to be getting angrier and angrier, and no one really knows why –  and much less what to do about it. I think we struggle to understand recent developments – the renewed surge of populism, the increasing polarization – because we misunderstand the way people do politics on a more fundamental level. In my research, I hope to show that by accounting for the emotional, personal side of politics, some of the puzzles we face in the social sciences turn out to be less perplexing after all.

What is your envisioned outcome of the overall project?

On a more practical level, I hope that our research project can help shift the way we think about politics in Switzerland, and the appeal of populist narratives more broadly. Alternative narratives are needed, but if they do not connect on an emotional level, if they see voters as policy-preference-calculators rather than people, they will inevitably fall short of conviction. I also hope to convey, through my personal research and the work of the entire project, that science can and should be a lot more creative than is commonly understood. Decolonial calls to de-center ‘Western’ research practices shouldn’t only be made on an ethical or political level. Exploring new forms of knowledge-making is a scientific necessity, and we should engage and embrace these developments as opportunities to think about the world in new and enlightening ways.

What are you most looking forward to in this collaboration?

I really enjoy the transdisciplinarity of the project. There is a wide range of interests, experiences and approaches amongst the team, and I do not think I have left a conversation without something new to think about. It makes for a very stimulating environment, and I can’t wait to put all the ideas that have been stewing in my head out there.

“THE IDEA OF ‘REVERSING THE GAZE’ CAN BE VERY HELPFUL, IF IT IS RELATED DIRECTLY TO GLOBAL AND LOCAL POWER RELATIONS, ALSO FOR HIGHLIGHTING THE AMBIGUITIES AROUND DECOLONIZATION.”

Can you explain your research area in three sentences?

I am an anthropologist, but also a historian. I undertake field-work in various parts of Cameroon and elsewhere in West Africa. Central topics in my work include local ways of dealing with state formation, decolonization, ’’witchcraft’’ and lately my focus lies on homophobia and freemasonry. 

How did you become involved in this project as a fellow ?

I got to know Elísio Macamo from collaborating with him at the International African Institute (SOAS University of London), but also through his lectures and publications. I very much like his subtle approach to complex issues such as decolonization and reversing the gaze. It was therefore a pleasure to join this project and to get an insight into the various case studies.

Elísio asked me to participate in this project as my book on issues of citizenship, belonging and exclusion (Perils of Belonging: Autochthony, Citizenship and Exclusion in Africa and Europe, 2009) was based on this idea of reversing the gaze – looking at the Dutch suddenly using notions like autochthony, or allochthony from the longer history of these concepts in Cameroon and elsewhere in Francophone Africa. Generally speaking, I was intrigued by the concept of ‘reversing the gaze’, especially how it relates to power-relations. 

What are you most looking forward to in this collaboration? 

I look forward to seeing how this idea of ‘’reversing the gaze’’ will be related to empirical research, and also how this will connect to debates on decolonization. The idea of ‘reversing the gaze’ can be very helpful, if it is related  directly to global and local power relations, also for highlighting the ambiguities around decolonization. At first, decolonization seems to be a self-evident notion, but it is important to go deeper into the ambiguities and complications that emerge as soon as we try to make it concrete in specific contexts.

What is your envisioned outcome of this project?

Anthropology should be about giving others a voice, which is why it is critical that diverse perspectives and positions in global networks are reflected. This is undoubtedly the case within this project. A danger for especially anthropologists is that “reversing the gaze“ inspires an obsession with self-reflexivity which can end up ‘muting’ the voice of the Other. “Reversing the gaze“ must be most explicitly in making other voices to be heard.

”I am committed to the old-fashioned view that there is only one science.”

Elísio Macamo is a Professor of Sociology and African Studies at the University of Basel. He is one of the Principal Investigators in the “Reversing the Gaze“ project, and leads the case study on “Strangers in our midst”.

Can you explain your research area in three sentences?

Firstly, and most importantly, I am concerned with the knowledge that we produce about Africa, i.e. I am interested in the methodologies used to bring it about and worried about the quality of that knowledge. Secondly, I am interested in how we, as academics, can make knowledge about Africa relevant to the various disciplines. Thirdly, I am committed to the idea of science, and, for this reason, I attempt to contribute to it by working on how best to produce knowledge.

What key questions would you like to answer in your case study?

What I am aiming to show is that there are no boundaries to knowledge. I am interested in using questions raised in connection with Africa to shed light on Switzerland’s fundamental issues. If we manage to do that, we will essentially reveal that science’s boundaries do not lie where we tend to think they do.

What is your envisioned outcome of the overall project?

This project’s overall goal is to engage in broader discussions about topics such as post-colonialism, decoloniality and epistemological hegemony. These have been going on for 30 or 40 years. They are important debates. They take issue with the central place that certain regions occupy in knowledge production and the assumption that this is highly problematic. There is the suggestion that there is a non-European science, and I’m not happy with that. I am committed to the old-fashioned view that there is only one science, and if we can meet our stated research goals, we would make a significant contribution to this broader debate. We will demonstrate that there is only one science, and that is what we should focus on.

What are you most looking forward to in this collaboration?

I am thrilled about the whole project and its originality. I am also very excited about the two doctoral students, Tebuho Winnie Kanyimba and Matthias Maurer Rueda. I am looking forward to seeing how they will overcome the challenge of doing African Studies research in Switzerland.

Overall, it is stimulating to work with the whole project team. It is brilliant. I highly respect the work of my colleagues and love what they have done so far. I can learn so much from them, and it is exciting to have the opportunity to work so closely with them. Lastly, I’m excited about the resonance of our project, if we do our work well, there will be responses, and if we do our work exceptionally well, these responses will be extreme. We might have to brace up some rough times as the debates we engage with address controversial topics.