Suter, Mischa

My research focuses on Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, but I try to approach it as a history of the present—that is, as a history that sheds new light on our present: How do modern societies come into being? Modern capitalism, which emerged in Europe in the late 18th century, arose out of colonial contexts. I am interested in this role of Europe in the world. On the one hand, I explore the question of how we can understand capitalism from the perspective of people’s everyday lives—for example, by conceiving of debt as relationships between people and money as a social relationship. On the other hand, I examine how the processes of liberation from colonial rule have shaped notions of global equality and human diversity; in this regard, I focus on the human sciences, particularly psychology, after 1945.

Across the various areas of my research, I am always committed to viewing material and symbolic dimensions as part of a continuum. How can we develop analytical perspectives that link material conditions—such as social inequality—to ideas circulating within a society, such as those regarding anthropological differences that underpin modern racism? Such a research program can be outlined as a “cultural history of the social”, which interrelates structures, subjects, and orders of knowledge.

• History of Capitalism
• History of the Human Sciences, particularly psychology
• Money as a social relationship, especially in colonial contexts
• Colonialism and Decolonization
• History and Social Theory

• 2001–2004 Director of the Music Program at the Rote Fabrik Cultural Center, Zurich
• 2008 Licentiate in General History, English Literature, and Social and Economic History, University of Zurich
• 2008–2012 Research Assistant, Center for Social and Economic History, University of Zurich
• 2012 Visiting Scholar, University of Michigan
• 2013 Doc Mobility Grant, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): Visiting Graduate Student, University of Chicago
• 2014 Ph.D., University of Zurich
• 2013–2017 Research Assistant, Department of History, University of Basel
• 2017–2020 Advanced Postdoc Mobility Grant, SNSF: CUNY Graduate Center (New York City), Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Vienna, Duke University
• 2021 SNF Eccellenza Professor, Department of International History and Politics, Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
• 2022 Habilitation, University of Basel
• 2025 Fellow, Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University
• 2026 Senior Fellow, Collegium Helveticum (Swiss Institute for Advanced Studies)
• Since August 2026: Chair in Social and Cultural History of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Faculty of History and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna