Changing Perspectives on Migration History and Research in Switzerland: An Introduction

Abstract

The introduction gives an overview of Switzerland as a migration country from a historical and interdisciplinary perspective and points to the country’s gradual transformation into a migration society since late nineteenth century. Nonetheless, migration studies still hold a marginal place in the Swiss academic landscape due to the fact that Switzerland largely does not consider itself to be a migration society. Historical studies have so far adopted rather traditional approaches to migration. Consequently, the introduction not only discusses the concepts of migration but also presents a state of research in which the evolution and desiderata in the field of migration studies are addressed. It also introduces each of the four parts of the book, by picking up key concepts (e.g. ‘migration regime’, ‘agency’, ‘transnationality’) and their importance for migration research.