Sinergia
Applicants
André Mach (UniL), Stéphanie Ginalski (UniL), Eric Davoine (UniFr) et Matthieu Leimgruber (UniZh)
Collaborators
Cécile Amstad (Former SNF Doctoral Student), Baptiste Antoniazza (SNF Doctoral Student), Pedro Araujo (Senior SNF Researcher), Pierre Benz (Senior SNF Researcher), Jean Ceppi (IT Specialist), Claire-Lise Debluë (Senior SNF Researcher), Anouk Essyad (Student Assistant), Anna Luna Frauchiger (Student Assistant), Mountazar Jaffar (Student Assistant), Titaÿna Kauffmann (Student Assistant), Eva Kurt (Student Assistant), Margaux Lang (Student Assistant), Geoffroy Legentilhomme (Senior SNF Researcher), Juliette Montandon-Clerc (Student Assistant), Steven Piguet (IT Specialist), Jonas Plüss (SNF Doctoral Student), Michael A. Strebel (Senior SNF Researcher, Project Coordination) and Emilie Widmer (SNF Doctoral Student)
Funded by
SNF Sinergia, see Project Page
Duration
2019-2024
Recent research on elites has highlighted on the one hand the increasing internationalization of elites, particularly economic elites, often considered increasingly disconnected from their local context and, on the other hand, the importance of their local roots for successful economic and political development. Due to its political and economic decentralization, combined with the early internationalization of its companies, Switzerland and its local elites are a particularly interesting case to study the tensions between local anchorage and transnational connections as well as the impact of long-term political and economic changes of scale, such as the centralization of the state or economic globalization.
Building on the database of the Swiss Elite Observatory OBELIS, this project focuses on the elites of the three main Swiss cities (Zurich, Geneva and Basel). It revolves around two main research axes:
a) the transformations of local power structures
b) the insertion of elites at the local, national and transnational level
These research axes will be developed in four sub-projects, focusing on different types of local elites:
1. committee members and managers of the chambers of commerce;
2. the economic elites of the main economic sectors and companies;
3. members of art societies and other local cultural institutions;
4. universities and academic elites.
This framework will contribute to a better knowledge of Swiss elites and allows to shed a light on the transformations they faced between 1890 and 2020. The results of this project will also be relevant for more general research on elites in other national contexts.
Link to the project website:
https://www.unil.ch/sinergia-elites
