Gloria Wekker

The Dutch-Surinamese anthropologist Gloria Wekker is one of the most influential Afro-European intellectuals. In her work, she questions the correlations of colonialism, diaspora, gender and sexuality between the Caribbean and Europe. Her ethnographic search for the unheard voices of Afro-Surinamese women meets with the activist resistance against racism, such as «blackfacing» in the Dutch tradition of «Sinterklaas» and«Zwarte Piet». In her latest book «White Innocence. Paradoxes of Co- lonialism and Race», Gloria Wekker identifies and analyses the denial of colonialism and racism in Europe in order to uphold traditional privileges. This leads her to question how «colonial complicity» is dealt with in Switzerland. (rj)