Dharika Viswanathan Athray
Dharika Viswanathan Athray
Student / Programme Doctorate at D-GESS

Dharika has been a doctoral student at the Professorship for History of the Modern World at ETH Zurich since September 2023. She holds an MA in International History and Politics from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID). Her research focuses on South Asian anti-imperial networks in Switzerland during the interwar period, a largely overlooked chapter in global anti-colonial history. While early twentieth-century anti-colonial activism has received growing attention, this project explores how cities such as Geneva, Zurich, and Lausanne became important centers for Indian political organizing abroad during the interbellum. It looks at collaborations between Indian revolutionaries and Indian delegates in international organizations on the one hand and Swiss pacifists, socialists and Indophiles on the other. It explores how Switzerland’s neutral and internationalist setting made these connections possible. At the same time, it considers the challenges activists faced, including increasing surveillance, xenophobia, and legal restrictions from both British and Swiss authorities. By examining these interactions, the project highlights the ideological diversity within the Indian independence movement abroad and the complex forms of solidarity that developed across borders. Simultaneously, the project offers a fresh perspective on Switzerland’s role in global anti-imperial struggles and reveals the historical entanglements between South Asia and Europe.