Maxime Felder

Ethnography of a political ritual: speeches given to new Swiss citizens by representatives of the state

Our paper examines speeches given at citizenship ceremonies in Geneva (Switzerland) in order to understand what makes a foreigner a new member of a national and especially of a cantonal entity. Focusing on speeches by three ministers over an interval of 4 years, we analyze their conceptions of the state, the nation, and of nationality, and the kind of change – if any – this rite of passage acknowledges. We observed that the variations that appeared, ranging from an assimilationist view to a conception of citizenship mainly encompassing rights and duties, reached beyond the political positions of the magistrates who wrote and read the speeches. We aim to show that official discourse covers a broad range of conceptions of the state and of citizenship, independently of the political position of the state representative making the speech.

Shops as the bricks and mortar of place identity

“Think of a city and what comes to mind?” asks Jane Jacobs (1961: 29). “Its streets. If a city’s streets look interesting, the city looks interesting; if they look dull, the city looks dull.” In our opinion, Jacobs should have answered: its commercial streets. Indeed, on Jacobs’ ideal street, small shops attract a diversity of people who use the public space and interact.

Bern: Integration Guidelines

In the second half of the 1990s, due to growing heterogeneity and fragmentation of the social and urban structure and the arrival of new lifestyles (of nationals and migrants), Swiss cities started taking charge of the challenges of migrant integration. In order to overcome an ageing foreigners law and diverse understanding of concepts and procedures, the city of Bern decided to elaborate a concept of guidelines and recommendations regarding integration of migrant populations. A large consultation resulted in a widely publicised document compiling recommendations addressing everyone, and particularly institutional actors. The document was meant to inform the population about the position and aims of the city council regarding integration. This way of discussing, negotiating and writing down guidelines supports participation and acceptance through involvement of stakeholders and acknowledges the limits of traditional welfare governance operating by enforceable rules in a field like integration.