P E D R O A R A U J O
P E D R O A R A U J O
Abstract
The World Elite Database (WED) is a cooperative data and analysis project led by researchers on elite populations from 16 countries: Argentina, Chile, China, Denmark, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA. This international consortium aims to develop a new standardized data regime to study, and share data about elites across the world. It aims to solve the problem of comparability and heterogeneity in the study of national power structures, and to foster a cooperative community of scholars interested in studying elite populations systematically.
Overview
Status: Ongoing
Role in the project: Member of the WED secretariat (coordination) and member of the Swiss team
More information: Project website
Abstract
This project aims to conduct of a comprehensive study to support the establishment of independent career paths for Data Stewards and other ORD experts at Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs). The project includes a meta-study of existing Swiss, European, and international reports on education, training, and career opportunities for ORD roles, summarizing key insights and identifying challenges and opportunities. It will also examine current career pathways at Swiss universities through a survey and create an overview of existing training programs. Additionally, the project will analyze the specific needs of Swiss universities and propose steps to address challenges, drawing on international practices.
Overview
Date: October 1, 2024 - June 3, 2025
Leading institution: University of Basel
Role in the project: Project team member
Funding: swissuniversities
Abstract
This project builds upon a previous SNF Sinergia grant that has focused on urban elites in the three main Swiss city-regions of Basel, Geneva and Zurich. We extend here the scope of our analysis beyond these core city-regions to focus on second-tier city-regions (STCs). Understood as regional hubs, STCs have received increasing attention in recent research, which has underscored their distinct characteristics, particularly in terms of economic development and regional governance. Due to their secondary positions in economic and demographic terms, STCs differ from core city-regions in terms of the connections of their elites to the national and transnational level, their long-term economic development, or their religious affiliation (several Swiss STCs are situated in Catholic regions, whereas all core cities are Protestant). These differences necessitate to develop specific research questions that are particularly relevant for understanding elites of STCs and their long-term development.
Based on different economic, cultural (religion and language) and political criteria, we have selected seven STCs (each encompassing a canton and its capital/main city) and their elites: Berne (BE), Fribourg (FR), Lucerne (LU), Neuchâtel (NE), Saint-Gall (SG), Tessin (TI) and Vaud (VD). These cases present a larger variety compared to the core city-regions of Basel, Geneva and Zurich. Four specific research questions will guide our analysis of STCs and their elites:
1) what are the pathways and historical dynamics of representation of second-tier elites in national institutions?
2) what are the long-term transformations of the sociological background of second-tier elites?
3) what is the role, presence, and longevity of dominant patrician families in STCs and national power structures?
4) how do these aforementioned aspects differ among the seven cases selected, as well as in comparison to the three core city-regions of Basel, Geneva and Zurich?
These questions will enable us to develop a transversal comparative approach on ten Swiss city-regions and their elites on various dimensions (individual careers, family ties, elites renewal, and multi-level activities), and over time.
The full project outline can be found here.
Overview
Date: September 1, 2025 - August 31, 2029
Leading institution: University of Lausanne
Role in the project: Senior researcher
More information: Project website
Abstract
Recognise ORD (recORD) brings together 12 Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and FORS as a national research data infrastructure to take a joint step forward in studying how Open Research Data (ORD) practices should be recognised and valued in the assessment of research proposals, the assessment of research personnel during recruitment and career development as well as in the assessment of research performing institutions. The diverse consortium includes big and small universities, big and small universities of applied sciences as well as partners from the ETH domain. In addition, the SNSF and FORS will add the views of funders, researchers and research infrastructures to the discussion.
The project will perform an analysis of best practices in ORD recognition based on (a) a literature review and (b) the discussions on the use of ORD in research assessment in CoARA working groups as well as the Swiss national CoARA chapter. These analyses are then contrasted with an analysis of the policies and needs of all involved partners.
For the dissemination of the results the consortium will hold a one-day event for the Swiss community as well as for invited international guests in December 2024.
Overview
Date: January 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025
Leading institution: Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
Role in the project: Project team member
Funding: swissuniversities
More information: Research outputs
Abstract
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:
S1: committee members and managers of the chambers of commerce
S2: the economic elites of the main economic sectors and companies
S3: members of art societies and other local cultural institutions
S4: 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. The full project outline can be found here.
Overview
Date: September 1, 2019 - December 31, 2024
Leading institution: University of Lausanne
Role in the project: Postdoctoral researcher
More information: Project website