Switzerland in Perspective, Vol. 92

Review
Largely sociological in approach, these 12 essays deal with contemporary Switzerland. Insofar as they have a common theme, it is the question of what makes the Swiss special: in a Europe beset by all-too-familiar social problems--crime, drug addiction, ethnic confrontations, labor troubles, to name only a few--Switzerland appears as an island of calm and sanity. The answers that emerge are, as is to be expected, a mixture of the differential, the definitional, and the notional. The Swiss, profiting from long experience, do some things differently. Centuries of multinational experience have produced the closest approximation to workable federalism in any Western society, and the emergence of Switzerland as a vast international banking center has led to a gigantic oversupply of domestic investment capital. Swiss industry, not being forced to operate on a shoestring, has, as a result, succeeded in coopting the labor force, which thinks of itself as being associated with management in an infallible profit-making scheme. One may always ignore problems by defining them out of existence, and several of the essays maintain that this is what the Swiss themselves have been doing systematically. ...University collections.Choice


Book Description
This is the only collection of essays available in English on modern Swiss economy, society, and culture. Twelve of Switzerland's most eminent social scientists express their ideas and viewpoints about their nation's past, present, and likely future in a readable and informative way. The book provides an interesting description and analysis of many aspects of this unique and little known country--its work and leisure, its educational system, changes affecting its women, families, and young people, how the Swiss view themselves and are viewed by others, and its geographically varied life spaces and styles.


About the Author
JANET EVE HILOWITZ received her doctoral degree from Oxford University.


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This is the only collection of essays available in English on modern Swiss economy, society, and culture. Twelve of Switzerland's most eminent social scientists express their ideas and viewpoints about their nation's past, present, and likely future in a readable and informative way. The book provides an interesting description and analysis of many aspects of this unique and little known country--its work and leisure, its educational system, changes affecting its women, families, and young people, how the Swiss view themselves and are viewed by others, and its geographically varied life spaces and styles.


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