Description
Switzerland is known as one of the safest countries on the planet, and as an example of efficiency and effectiveness. One of the main reasons for the existence of such a country is the development of a culture based on protection, supported by the presence and production of national security. When, in 2014, the Swiss voted in favor of a federal popular initiative against mass immigration, Salvatore Vitale, an immigrant living in Switzerland, felt the need to study this phenomenon in order to understand the origin of the motives behind this constant need for security and how they have become an integral part of Swiss culture. In How to Secure a Country, Vitale explores the country’s national security measures, focusing on instructions, protocols, bureaucracies and clear-cut solutions, which he visualizes with photographs, diagrams and graphic illustrations. The result is a case study that can be used to explain the global context and workings of contemporary societies. Essays by political scientists Jonas Hagmann (ETH Zurich) and Roland Bleiker (University of Queensland, Australia) provide an analysis of the structure of the Swiss security system and a perspective on the politics of photography. Lars Willumeit, curator and social anthropologist, will discuss attitudes, behaviors and codes in the 21st-century state.
