In his Phd-project “Learning engaged cartography – Materialities and practices of collective critical mapping” Paul currently researches methods of activist mapping with social movements in Europe and Latin America and facilitates a global dialogues of engaged cartographies.
Paul Schweizer, M.A.
PS : M.A. Paul Schweizer (Fellow)
Areas of responsibility
Research assistant Area: Digital Geography
Contact options (Schweizer, Paul – English)
Mail: paul.schweizer@geo.uni-halle.de | | Room: H4 2.41.1 | Consultation hours: Consultation hours by appointment(during the semester break only by appointment)
Focus Areas:
Critical cartography, counter-mapping, action research
Research
Projects
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searching for engaged cartography Project (Digital Geography)
The research examines collective mapping practices as decolonial knowledge production and develops methods for a critical-engaged cartography in multi-sited action research. (engaged cartography
Biography
Since Sept. 2022 PhD on the topic “Searching for engaged cartography – Materialities and multiple spaces in practices of collective critical mapping” at the Matin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), scholarship holder of the Hans Böckler Foundation
2021 mLAB Residency “Uncertain Calibrations” at the Institute of Geography, University of Bern
Since 2019 Lecturer at the Institute of Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) at the Academy of Art and Design, Basel
2012 to 2017 Master “Geographies of Globalisation: Markets and Metropolises” at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
2009 to 2012 Bachelor’s degree in Human Geography at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the Universidade do Porto (UP), Portugal
Since 2009 member of kollektiv orangotango, workshops and action research on collective critical cartography and artistic interventions in public space as well as maintenance of the platform “This Is Not an Atlas“
Teaching
My teaching is concerned with the theory and practice of collective critical mapping, as well as – in practical seminars and excursions to empirical research – with creative-artistic methods in geography, with the methodological approach of action research and with research ethical questions concerning the positionalities and relationships between researchers and co-researchers.
Publications
Böttger, Matthias, Ann Mbuti, and Paul Schweizer, eds. 2026. Widerständige Handarbeit. HyperWerk (IXDM).
Cunllugn Veitchá Teie, Bibiana Harrote Pereira da Silva, and Paul Schweizer, eds. 2026. Jug Og Pãn Txi – Na trilha dos nossos antepassados: a retomada do território Xokleng Konglui. With Antônia Paté, Clarissa Londero, Culá Maiule Teie Lemos da Silva, et al. Imotirõ.
kollektiv orangotango. 2026. ‘Chiunque Può Creare Una Mappa’. In Rione Palestro Del Rione Palestro – Mappature Collettive Dentro e Fuori l’accademia, edited by Francesca Acetino, Diletta Damiano, and Mariasole Pepa. Fuoril(u)ogo.
Schweizer, Paul, Severin Halder, and Laurenz Virchow. 2026. ‘Collective Mapping on Paper, Cardboard, and Concrete – Cartographic Action Research as Activist Tool and Geographical’. In Mobilizing Data for Justice: A Guide to Activism in the Digital Age, edited by Chris Hurl, Elena Rowan, Marius Senneville, and Kevin Walby. University of Toronto Press.
Schweizer, Paul, and Bibiana Harrote Pereira da Silva. 2026. ‘A Palavra Para Floresta é Kute’. In Geografia e/Com Povos Indígenas, edited by Rafael Zilio, Juliana Mota, Fabiano Bringel, and Marcelo Camara. Porto Alegre.
Schweizer, Paul, and Bibiana Harrote Pereira da Silva. 2026. ‘Goj Bág – Mapeando as Águas Xokleng’. In A Geografia Da Questão Indígena No Rio Grande Do Sul: Aproximações, edited by Dilermando Cattaneo, Marcelo Argenta Câmara, and Sinthia Cristina Batista. Arco.
Schweizer, Paul, and Bibiana Harrote Pereira da Silva. 2026. ‘Mapping Kin, and the Territory as Map – Cartographic Approaches for Xokleng Territorial Struggles’. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 61 (3).
Schweizer, Paul, and Bibiana Harrote Pereira da Silva. 2026. ‘The Word for Forest Is Kute – (Un)Commoning Nature in the Retomada Xokleng Konglui’. Horizontes Antropológicos (Porto Alegre).
Schweizer, Paul, Bibiana Pereira da Silva, Boris Michel, and Cristina T. Ribas. 2026. ‘Hydrocartography in Times of Menacing Waters: Xokleng Mapping and the Politics of Floods in Southern Brazil’. Geo: Geography and Environment 13 (1): e70075.
Schweizer, Paul, and Laura Pregger. 2026. ‘Handarbeit, Beziehungsweisen Und Begehrenswerte Zukünfte’. In Widerständige Handarbeit, edited by Matthias Böttger, Ann Mbuti, and Paul Schweizer. HyperWerk (IXDM).
Schweizer, Paul, and Tuline Gülgönen. 2026. ‘Counter-Mapping Rumors? – Rumors on Counter-Mapping!’ Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 61 (2).
Schweizer, Paul. 2026. ‘Handcrafting Hope’. In Widerständige Handarbeit, edited by Matthias Böttger, Ann Mbuti, and Paul Schweizer. HyperWerk (IXDM).
Ribas, Cristina T., and Paul Schweizer. 2025. ‘Hidrocartografia – modos de cartografar com as águas’. ClimaCom, Manifesto das águas, vol. 12 (28): 1–20.
International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies and kollektiv orangotango, eds. 2024. Beyond Molotovs – a Visual Handbook of Anti-Authoritarian Strategies. Transcript.
kollektiv orangotango and IRGAC, eds. 2024. This Is Not a Newspaper – This Is an Exhibition of Anti-Authoritarian Strategies. Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung.
Pereira da Silva, Bibiana Harrote, and Paul Schweizer. 2024. ‘Das Wort Für Wald Ist “Kute”’. In Dear Earth, – Beziehungsweisen Mit Und Auf Der Erde, edited by Hyperwerk IXDM. FHNW.
Schweizer, Paul, and Severin Halder. 2024. ‘Die Stadt kollektiv kartieren’. In Handbuch kritische Stadtgeographie, 6., völlig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, edited by Bernd Belina, Matthias Naumann, and Anke Strüver. Westfälisches Dampfboot.
Schweizer, Paul, and Severin Halder. 2024. ‘Don’t Believe the Mapping Hype! Three Steps Back for an Engaged Cartography’. In The Routledge Handbook of Cartographic Humanities, by Tania Rossetto and Laura Lo Presti. Routledge.
Hilf, Sebastian, and Paul Schweizer. 2023. ‘Wandbild – Ist eine andere Welt malbar? Kollektive Wandbemalungen als künstlerischkreative Methode der sozialräumlichen Analyse und Aktionsforschung’. In Artographies – Kreativ-künstlerische Zugänge zu einer machtkritischen Raumforschung, edited by Katrin Singer, Katharina Schmidt, and Martina Neuburger. Sozial- und Kulturgeographie 59. Transcript.
kollektiv orangotango+ and Nepthys Zwer, eds. 2023. Ceci N’est Pas un Atlas: La cartographie comme outil de luttes, 21 exemples à travers le monde. Éditions du commun.
Marca, Anna La, Lai Bronzi Rocha, Leila de Oliveira Lima Araujo, et al. 2022. ‘Cartografias Da Solidariedade Pandêmica’. In Territorialidades En Movimiento: Resistencias y Creatividades En Geografías Urbanas-Regionales Durante La Pandemia, edited by Christy Petropoulou, John Holloway, Fernando Matamoros Ponce, et al. Luchas Invisibles En Tiempos de Pandemia 2. BUAP.
Schweizer, Paul, Severin Halder, and Laurenz Virchow. 2022. ‘Kollektive kritische Kartierungen auf Papier, Pappe und Beton – kartographische Aktionsforschungen zwischen aktivistischer Praxis und geographischer Reflexion’. In Handbuch Kritisches Kartieren, edited by Finn Dammann and Boris Michel, vol. 51. Transcript.
Schweizer, Paul, and Orlando Coelho Barbosa. 2022. ‘Descolonizando linguagens cartográficas – a construção de uma cartografia engajada’. EccoS – Revista Científica, no. 61: 1-18.
Schweizer, Paul, and Tuline Gülgönen. 2022. ‘Kartieren mit Kindern – Alltagsräume erforschen und repräsentieren’. In Handbuch Kritisches Kartieren, edited by Finn Dammann and Boris Michel, vol. 51. Transcript.
Schweizer, Paul. 2022. ‘Decolonizzando Linguaggi Cartografici per Una Cartografia Impegnata’. In Forme Dell’abitare. Forme Del Transitare. Adattamenti, Traslazioni, Contaminazioni Linguistiche e Letterarie Nell’Europa Centrale e Orientale, edited by Daniela Allocca, Andrea De Carlo, Donata Di Leo, and Gabriella Sgambati. Universitalia.
Batista, Sinthia Cristina, Sthefania Kappel, Juliana Borba, et al. 2021. ‘O Mapa “Solidariedade e Assistência Social”: Litoral Norte (RS) – Pandemia Covid-19’. Boletim Gaúcho de Geografia 48 (1/2): 85-119.
Halder, Severin, Boris Michel, Paul Schweizer, Laurenz Virchow, and Pablo Mansilla Quiñones. 2021. ‘Décoloniser l’atlas? Éditer Une Collection Mondiale de Contre-Cartographies: Écueils et Rencontres’. In Contre-Cartographier Le Monde, edited by Diane Bracco and Lucie Genay. PULIM.
Pettig, Fabian, Laurenz Virchow, Paul Schweizer, Severin Halder, and Martina Neuburger. 2021. ‘Miteinander Wissen schaffen. Partizipative Aktionsforschung als geographische Bildungspraxis zwischen Gesellschaft, Schule und Hochschule’. GW Unterricht: Humangeographische Forschungsmethoden im Geographieunterricht 164: 5–17.
Ribas, Cristina T., and Paul Schweizer. 2021. ‘Hydrocartography: Mapping With Waters’. C Mag 150: 18–22.
Schweizer, Paul, and Severin Halder. 2021. ‘Reflections on the Cartographic Languages – When Collectively Mapping Possible Worlds’. In Shifts in Mapping – Maps as a Tool of Knowledge, edited by Christine Schranz. Transcript.
Schweizer, Paul, and Cristina T. Ribas. 2021. ‘Hydrokartographie – Wasser Körper Kartieren’. In Nothing Happens in Isolation, edited by Institut Hyperwerk. FHNW.
Schweizer, Paul, and Cristina T. Ribas. 2021. ‘Idrocartografia – Forme Di Cammino in Paesaggi Acquatici’. In Trame: Pratiche e Saperi per Un’ecologia Politica Situata, edited by Ecologie politiche del presente. Tamu.
Halder, Severin, and Paul Schweizer. 2020. ‘Von Aktivismus, Geographien und dem Dazwischen – Überlegungen anhand der Praxis von Kollektiv Orangotango’. Standort 44 (4): 255-261.
Halder, Severin, Boris Michel, and Paul Schweizer. 2020. ‘Is This Is Not an Atlas an Atlas? On the Pitfalls of Editing a Global Collection of Counter-Cartographies’. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization 55 (3): 207-214.
D’Onofrio, Alexandra, Francesca Cogni, and Paul Schweizer. 2019. ‘Attivare immaginari – Un incontro tra ricerca sociale e pratiche artistiche’. In Adolescenza delle città – Diario di una metropoli che cresce, edited by Paola Piscitelli and Sara Troglio, Cittadinanza Europea. Utopie 83. Feltrinelli.
Counter Cartographies Collective, Francis Harvey, Iconoclasistas, et al. 2018. ‘This Is Not a Conclusion – Discussing Counter-Cartographies’. In This Is Not an Atlas: A Global Collection of Counter-Cartographies, edited by kollektiv orangotango+. Social and Cultural Geography 26. Transcript.
kollektiv orangotango+, ed. 2018. This Is Not an Atlas: A Global Collection of Counter-Cartographies. Social and Cultural Geography 26. Transcript.
Larruscahim, Paula, and Paul Schweizer. 2017. ‘Difference upon the Walls – Hygienizing Policies and the Use of Graffiti against Pixação in São Paulo’. In Murals and Tourism: Heritage, Politics and Identity, edited by Jonathan Skinner and Lee Jolliffe. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Schweizer, Paul, and Tobias Morawski. 2017. ‘Und Es Lebt Doch – Vergesellschaftung, Alte Bärtige Typen Und “mögliche” Graffitis’. In The Death Of Graffiti, edited by Jo Preußler and COGITATIO FACTUM. Menetekel. Possible Books.
Schweizer, Paul, Paula Larruscahim, and Fabio Vieira. 2016. ‘Pixação – Differenz, Säuberungspolitiken Und Widerstand in ‚global City’ São Paulo’. Peripherie – Zeitschrift Für Politik Und Ökonomie in Der Dritten Welt 141 (April): 33–55.
Schweizer, Paul. 2016. ‘Rezension: Youkhana, Eva; Förster, Larissa (Hg.): Grafficity – Visual Practices and Contestations in Urban Space’. Peripherie – Zeitschrift Für Politik Und Ökonomie in Der Dritten Welt 141 (April): 134–36.
Schweizer, Paul. 2016. ‘Visual Interventions in Public Space: The City as Its Inhabitants Oeuvre – Pixação, Segregation and Reappropriation of Urban Space in São Paulo’. Working Paper Series – Contested Cities 5 (518).
Larruscahim, Paula Gil, and Paul Schweizer. 2015. ‘A criminalização da pixação como cultura popular na metrópole brasileira na virada para o século XXI / The criminalization of pixação as popular culture in the brazilian metropolis at the dawn of the 21st century’. Revista de Direitos e Garantias Fundamentais 15 (1): 13–32.
Schweizer, Paul. 2014. ‘From the Ground up: Community Gardens in New York City and the Politics of Spatial Transformation – Book Review’. Geography Research Forum 34: 142–45.
Rosol, Marit, and Paul Schweizer. 2012. ‘Ortoloco Zurich: Urban Agriculture as an Economy of Solidarity’. City 16 (6): 713–24.
Schweizer, Paul, and Marit Rosol. 2011. Ortoloco Zürich – Ein Gemeinschaftsgarten Als Gelebtes Beispiel Für Eine Alternative, Solidarische Ökonomie. Anstiftung & ertomis.