People - 12.08.2025 - 10:04
Rita Kesselring has been awarded the Walter Enggist Research Prize for her latest book entitled ‘Extraction, Global Commodity Trade, and Urban Development in Zambia's North-Western Province: an ethnography of inequality and interdependence’. In her book, Kesselring examines life in Solwezi, a Zambian town next to Africa's largest copper mine, and its links with the Swiss commodities trading hub. The researcher shows that the development paths of mining and trading locations are interlinked. The book thus makes an important contribution to the discussion on how Switzerland wants to position itself in a globally connected world.
Kesselring has been an associate professor of urban studies at the HSG since August 2022. Her research is situated at the intersection of political, economic, legal and urban ethnology. She grew up in the Thurgau capital of Frauenfeld and was a guest at the University of Cape Town, the University of Connecticut, Princeton University and the University of the Copperbelt, as well as a senior assistant at the Ethnological Seminar at the University of Basel, before coming to St. Gallen.
The evaluation committee for the research award particularly emphasised the high social relevance of the work. Based on extensive field research, the work goes beyond mere description and highlights Switzerland's role in the field of raw materials trading.
Rita Kesselring is a successful scientist from Thurgau who has achieved great international recognition with her numerous publications. As Kesselring led a project commissioned by the cantons of Thurgau and Zurich on international adoptions between 1973 and 2002, her research also has close ties to the canton of Thurgau.
‘On the one hand, I am delighted to receive the Walter Enggist Research Prize – as a sign of my return to eastern Switzerland after many stops in different places around the world. On the other hand, it is a political recognition that we must increasingly address issues of global inequality and Switzerland's role,’ says Rita Kesselring.
The ethnologist plans to use the prize money of 15,000 Swiss francs for several research stays as part of a new research project on global supply and production chains.
The Walter Enggist Research Prize, awarded by the Thurgau Science Network, will be presented at a public ceremony. This will take place on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, in the Singsaal in the main building of the Kantonsschule Frauenfeld and will begin at 7 p.m. Please register at www.forschungspreis.tg.ch.
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