Central Asian Studies in Zurich - An Interview with Peter Finke

The European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) continues its online seminar series titled “Central Asian Studies in Europe”. Our second guest is Peter Finke from the University of Zurich. Finke is an economic anthropologist specializing in Central and Inner Asia, where he has conducted extensive fieldwork since the early 1990s. He is the author of Variations on Uzbek Identity: Strategic Choices, Cognitive Schemas and Political Constraints in Identification Processes (2014) and Qazaq Pastoralists in Western Mongolia: Institutional Change, Economic Diversification and Social Stratification (2023). In this interview, Dr. Finke reflects on his academic journey, his field research experiences in Central Asia in the 1990s, and the development of Central Asian studies in Switzerland. Dr. Finke also discusses opportunities available for students and researchers interested in Central Asia at the University of Zurich. The purpose of this series is to introduce European institutions engaged in Central Asian studies and related fields, while providing insight into the field for prospective students and researchers interested in the region.