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Neo-Orientalism and the fear of ‘seeing’ the Other in contemporary Switzerland

Campaign posters of the far-right Swiss People's Party depicting a woman wearing a burqa against a background of a Swiss flag upon which several minarets resembling missiles reading in German 'Stop - Yes to ban of minarets' are pictured on October 26, 2009 at the central station in Zurich. Earlier this month, Switzerland's Commission Against Racism said that the anti-minaret poster campaign defamed the country's Muslim minority and could threaten public peace. Switzerland is expected to vote November 29 on a referendum launched by right-wing groups on whether the construction of minarets should be banned. AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI (Photo credit should read FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

Xenophobia as a product of Swiss exceptionalism it is one of the least explored and yet blatant forms of nationalism alive in contemporary Europe.