Peer-reviewed papers by Maxime Felder
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2024
In cities facing housing shortages, vulnerable newcomers almost always live with family or friend... more In cities facing housing shortages, vulnerable newcomers almost always live with family or friends upon arrival. While social networks are often seen as a source of support that facilitates migration and settlement, research has also shown that newcomers can be exploited by established migrants and relatives. Challenging the dichotomy between positive and negative social capital, this article reveals how exploitation and support coexist within social relationships. It shows how exploitation emerges from the ambiguous and implicit obligations of reciprocity that is inherent in informal support. Examining the informal housing arrangements and experiences of Colombian newcomers in Rotterdam (NL), this article analyses what support they receive from their hosts and how they reciprocate. It shows how the arrangements are shaped by the unequal positions of guests and hosts, and how they involve relational work. Through negotiating informal housing arrangements and reciprocity, guests and hosts negotiate and shape their relationship. The article draws on anthropological theories of gift-giving to explore the tensions and uncertainties that characterise hospitality. It shows how attention to reciprocity makes it possible to move beyond the opposition between support and exploitation and to understand how relationships can simultaneously be both supportive and exploitative.
Housing, Theory and Society, 2023
While scholars have long established that city dwellers choose with whom to develop relationships... more While scholars have long established that city dwellers choose with whom to develop relationships on the basis of social proximity, spatial proximity remains the basis for neighbour relations involving greetings, social conversation, and the exchange of services. Few studies have systematically compared the respective roles of spatial and social proximity in neighbour relations. In this paper, we investigate these two factors through statistical analysis of four social network datasets representing relationships within four rented apartment buildings in Geneva, Switzerland. Using a measure of distance that takes into account how the layout and materiality of buildings shape relationships through accessibility, visibility and audibility, we compare the effects of spatial proximity with the effects of individual determinants and similarity. Our study also breaks new ground by comparing weak ties – between people who interact regularly – and “invisible ties”, or ties to familiar strangers. Our study confirms that spatial proximity increases the likelihood of weak ties and questions the underlying mechanisms. It also shows that in addition to sociability, familiarity and anonymity are constitutive dimensions of neighbouring, even at the scale of buildings.
Social Inclusion, 2023
Despite restrictive policy frameworks, cities sometimes provide support to irregular migrants. Sc... more Despite restrictive policy frameworks, cities sometimes provide support to irregular migrants. Scholars have analysed these forms of inclusion, focusing on policies and tensions between inclusionary approaches by local or urban actors and exclusionary approaches by national or supranational authorities. This article seeks to shift the focus to the street level, examining how support is delivered, how it is experienced by different categories of irregular migrants, and how frontline social workers make sense of their work and foster "paradoxical inclusion." To this end, the article first analyses the experiences of young North African irregular migrants in Geneva, Switzerland. Based on ethnographic research, we describe their everyday life in the "assistance circuit," which forces them to follow a daily routine determined by the services offered at fixed times in different places. Over time, the young men develop a sense of entrapment and alienation, as well as escape strategies. Secondly, by examining the perspective of social workers, we show that the constraints associated with the assistance circuit reflect a social work paradigm that aims to keep people on the move, limit dependency and promote autonomy. This paradigm coexists with another, conflicting one, which can be described as palliative, but which also seems paradoxical to the irregular migrants who aspire to full participation in social and economic life. Overall, our study suggests an alternative interpretation of the limitations and paradoxes surrounding irregular migrants' inclusion that complements policy-oriented approaches.
European Urban and Regional Studies, 2023
In the wealthy and orderly city of Geneva, Switzerland, accommodation centres built in haste betw... more In the wealthy and orderly city of Geneva, Switzerland, accommodation centres built in haste between the 1950s and the 1980s to house seasonal guestworkers from southern Europe are still standing and still inhabited. Today's residents are precarious workers, undocumented or with temporary permits as well as asylum seekers. While the seasonal status disappeared in the early 2000s, the demand for low-skilled, flexible labour did not. Analysing the historical trajectories of specific buildings helps us to answer the question of who replaced the seasonal workers, not only in the labour and the housing markets, but also in the symbolic spectrum of legitimacy. This article introduces the notion of 'Subaltern Housing Policies' to account for the public action that leads to the production and subsequent use of forms of housing characterised by standards of comfort and security far below those of the rental and social housing stock, but considered 'good enough' for their occupants. We argue that 'subaltern' relates not only to housing conditions, but also to the policies themselves, and last but not least to the people who are subjected to them. This notion allows us to trace a link between the production of substandard forms of housing and the production of categories of people who are kept on the margins of full citizenship.
Sociological Theory, 2021
Familiarity is an elusive concept, capturing what we know intimately and what we only recognize f... more Familiarity is an elusive concept, capturing what we know intimately and what we only recognize from having seen before. This article aims to disambiguate these interpretations by proposing a sociological conceptualization of familiarity as a dynamic relationship to the world that develops over time and through experience, and that allows one to progressively disattend from what appears as “usual.” Focusing on how urban environments and their human entities become familiar and stop being familiar, I propose that familiarity be thought of as an ongoing relational and interactional achievement, allowing us to focus on our daily activities while relying on a practical knowledge of our surroundings. The conceptualization process unfolds via five questions: What is familiarity? Where does it come from? What threatens it? What does it produce? How can it be operationalized and studied empirically?
Urban Planning, 2020
Although 'arrival infrastructure' is central to the experience of migrants arriving in a new city... more Although 'arrival infrastructure' is central to the experience of migrants arriving in a new city, is it sufficient to form a 'hospitable milieu'? Our article compares newcomers' experiences with 'arrival infrastructure' in two European cities: Brussels and Geneva. Based on ethnographic research with 49 migrants who arrived a few months earlier, we show that arrival infrastructure is Janus-faced. On one hand, it welcomes newcomers and contributes to making the city hospitable. On the other hand, it rejects, deceives and disappoints them, forcing them to remain mobile - to go back home, go further afield, or just move around the city - in order to satisfy their needs and compose what we will call a 'hospitable milieu.' The arrival infrastructure's inhospitality is fourfold: linked firstly to its limitations and shortcomings, secondly to the trials or tests newcomers have to overcome in order to benefit from the infrastructure, thirdly to the necessary forms of closure needed to protect those who have just arrived and fourthly to those organising and managing the infrastructure, with divergent conceptions of hospitality. By using the notion of milieu and by embedding infrastructure into the broader question of hospitality, we open up an empirical exploration of its ambiguous role in the uncertain trajectories of newcomers.
Sociology, 2020
The dichotomy between ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ ties is a common theme in sociological scholarship deal... more The dichotomy between ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ ties is a common theme in sociological scholarship dealing with urban space, yet urban ethnographers have long been describing the prevalence of impersonal relations. Such relations can be described as fleeting encounters between complete strangers, while others – as in the case of ‘nodding’ relationships – are durable and have yet to be conceptualised. The notion of ‘invisible ties’ is proposed as a conceptual handle for studying typical urban relations that complement the established notions of strong and weak ties. Through an empirical study of four residential buildings in Geneva (Switzerland), these ‘invisible ties’ are revealed by means of a systemic approach to social urban life, from which two key actors emerge: ‘socialisers’ and ‘figures’. This research addresses gaps in the literature on interpersonal relations in urban contexts by focusing on the interplay between different types of social ties, encompassing the whole continuum from anonymity to intimacy.
métropolitiques.eu, 2020
Dans un contexte d’accroissement des mobilités, de montée de l’individualisme et de développement... more Dans un contexte d’accroissement des mobilités, de montée de l’individualisme et de développement des réseaux sociaux numériques, les relations de voisinage semblent appartenir au passé. Comment comprendre alors que la Fête des voisins rassemble chaque année plus de monde ? À partir d’une enquête menée à Genève, Maxime Felder livre un éclairage sur le sens et le rôle de ce rituel.
Sociologie, 2018
Comment des citadins peuvent-ils tolérer, voire valoriser, la présence de revendeurs de drogue da... more Comment des citadins peuvent-ils tolérer, voire valoriser, la présence de revendeurs de drogue dans leur rue ? Sur la base d’une enquête ethnographique au- près de résident-e-s, de commerçant-e-s et de "dealers" dans deux rues de Genève (Suisse), cet article se propose d’étudier les dynamiques permettant la coexistence entre ces catégories d’acteurs. Nous plaçons au cœur de notre analyse un processus de familiarisation. À travers celui-ci, un individu apprend progressivement, par la fréquentation répétée d’un environnement et des individus qui l’habitent, à en identifier la normalité, c’est-à-dire les conditions dans lesquelles cet environnement ne présente pas de menace immédiate. Ce processus repose sur le maintien des "apparences normales" (Goffman, 1973), et sur des normes morales que les "dealers" tentent de respecter. Nous soulignons la dimension spatiale de ce processus, à partir du cas de l’école primaire jouxtant un espace public fréquenté par les dealers. Enfin, nous montrons que la coexistence est en partie autorégulée, mais repose aussi sur la répression ainsi que sur une médiation organisée par des acteurs associatifs qui permettent un dialogue entre les représentant-e-s de l’école, les résident-e-s, la police et les dealers.
Les communes suisses organisent un rituel pour célébrer l’accession à la majorité civile et civiq... more Les communes suisses organisent un rituel pour célébrer l’accession à la majorité civile et civique de leurs résident·e·s qui atteignent l’âge de dix-huit ans. Dans les six communes que nous avons étudiées, les autorités invitent les jeunes à participer à une séance du conseil communal, les convient à un repas ou un apéritif, ou leur organisent une soirée de témoignages, de spectacle ou encore de jeux en plein air. Ces événements font place à des discours dans lesquels des représentant·e·s des autorités enjoignent les jeunes à être de « bonnes » et « bons » citoyens. Si l’appel au vote est toujours le leitmotiv, les discours se centrent aussi sur des définitions plus larges de la citoyenneté, insistant tantôt sur l’engagement associatif et local, tantôt sur la nécessité d’agir pour l’écologie ou contre les inégalités. Le croisement de ces analyses avec celles des entretiens menés avec de jeunes participant·e·s fait émerger des tensions. En effet, les autorités s’adressent à des jeunes qu’elles ne considèrent pas tout à fait comme des adultes (et qui ne se considèrent pas non plus comme tel·le·s), qui sont pour certain·e·s déjà engagé·e·s dans ces formes de citoyenneté vernaculaire, et qui s’apprêtent à quitter leur commune pour étudier ou voyager. Ces promotions citoyennes permettent ainsi de mettre en scène l’intérêt des élu·e·s pour les jeunes, considéré·e·s comme des citoyen·ne·s en apprentissage dont dépend le renouvellement de la démocratie.
Mots clés : jeunesse, citoyenneté, rituels, majorité, communes
Citizens but not adults? Injunction to be responsible and citizens in official coming of age rituals in Switzerland
Swiss municipalities organize ceremonies for their residents reaching the official age of full citizenship. In the six studied municipalities, local authorities invite them to a municipal council’s meeting, offer them a dinner or an aperitif, or organize them a show and a debate with role models. Speeches are central to these ceremonies, and authority representatives encourage their audience to be “good” citizens. Call to vote is the leitmotiv, but discourses reveal broader definitions of citizenship, insisting sometimes on a local commitment and volunteering, and sometimes on the necessity to fight climate change and inequalities. Comparing officials’ speeches to statements of young people participating in these events reveals “tensions”. Indeed, authority representatives address young citizens without considering them as fully adult, and they do not consider themselves as such neither. However, some of them are already involved in forms of vernacular citizenship, and are progressively leaving the municipality to study, work or travel. Ultimately, these ceremonies allow officials to stage their interest in the youth, which they consider as both uncompleted and essential to the renewal of democracy.
Key words: youth, citizenship, rituals, majority, municipality
Chaque année, les communes suisses invitent leurs jeunes résident-e-s qui atteignent l'âge de la ... more Chaque année, les communes suisses invitent leurs jeunes résident-e-s qui atteignent l'âge de la majorité à un événement qui marque leur accession à de nouveaux droits et obligations. En nous basant sur une enquête ethnographique de quatre ans, nous analysons l'évolution de ce rite de passage dans la ville de Genève, depuis sa première réalisation en 1924. À partir d'archives historiques, d'observations directes des cérémonies ainsi que d'une séance de préparation de l'édition 2012, nous montrons comment les élu-e-s et l'équipe organisatrice, préoccupés par le supposé manque d'intérêt des jeunes pour la politique, négocient adaptations et innovations. Ce rite a joué et joue encore un rôle clé dans les redéfinitions des contours de la citoyenneté, notamment pour inclure d'abord les femmes, puis les résident-e-s de nationalité étrangère.
Résumé
L’hétérogénéité de la population des centres urbains européens est souvent présentée comm... more Résumé
L’hétérogénéité de la population des centres urbains européens est souvent présentée comme une cohabitation de divers groupes (ethniques, nationaux, sociaux). L’article questionne cette perspective en se demandant comment — dans des immeubles dont la population reflète la mobilité internationale, les inégalités socioéconomiques mais aussi la diversification des modes de vie — les individus eux-mêmes perçoivent cette hétérogénéité. À travers des entretiens avec des résidents de quatre immeubles de Genève, j’analyse la manière dont ils décrivent leurs voisins. Plutôt que de les classer en groupes et de se référer à « nous » et à « eux », les interviewés combinent des catégories qui varient selon le voisin dont il est question. Toutefois, même pour les anciens résidents, certains voisins restent des inconnus dont ils ignorent jusqu’à l’existence. J’interprète ceci comme une conséquence de la grande hétérogénéité de la population étudiée, mais aussi de la moindre visibilité des voisins et de leurs activités, ainsi que de l’absence, à l’échelle des immeubles du moins, de réseaux de voisinage stables et soudés. Ainsi, loin d’être toujours des espaces d’interconnaissance, les immeubles s’apparentent à une juxtaposition d’espaces privés (les appartements) et quasi publics (les parties communes), où la coexistence passe par des formes de retenue et d’indifférence à l’égard des autres et de leurs différences.
Abstract
Diversity on the Doorstep. Everyday Categorization of Neighbours
European city centres are characterized by their heterogeneous populations. In Geneva, people from diverse origins and social positions dwell in the same buildings. This offers the opportunity to analyze how this heterogeneity appears to urbanites’ eyes, when they speak about each other. Through interviews with dwellers of four residential buildings, I show that rather than classifying their neighbours into groups and referring to “us” and “them”, interviewees combine categories which vary depending on the person to be described. Moreover, some neighbours remain unknown even to long-time residents. I interpret these findings as a consequence of the heterogeneity of the studied population, but also of the lack of visibility of each other’s behaviour, as well as of the absence—at the residential building’s level—of stable and cohesive groups. Consequently, residential buildings can belong to the public realm. Parts of them remain unknown territory populated by strangers, with whom coexistence is facilitated by self-restraint and indifference.
Key words: urban, , , , ,
Our paper examines speeches given at citizenship ceremonies in Geneva (Switzerland) in order to u... more 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.
Book chapters by Maxime Felder
Wörterbuch der Schweizer Sozialpolitik, 2020
Definition des Begriffs Sozialkapital.
Dictionnaire de politique sociale suisse, 2020
Définition de la notion de capital social.
COVID-19 Die sozialwissenschaftliche Perspektive, 2020
COVID-19. Le regard des sciences sociales, 2020
A mesure que les citadins se recentrent sur l'espace domestique et réservent leurs contacts socia... more A mesure que les citadins se recentrent sur l'espace domestique et réservent leurs contacts sociaux à leurs proches, la ville confinée perd de son urbanité. Elle se trouve partiellement privée des rapports sociaux qui caractérisent la vie urbaine : ceux que les citadins entretiennent quotidiennement avec des inconnus, dans la rue, dans les transports publics et dans les commerces. En effet, la ville se caractérise par cette manière d'être ensemble : ni dans le contrôle social, ni dans l'indifférence, mais dans une familiarité qui résulte de simples interactions et dont le virus menace l'existence. Saluer une voisine en bas de l'immeuble, échanger quelques mots avec le vendeur au supermarché, ou avec un inconnu dans la rue sont autant d'interactions apparemment insignifiantes, mais qui constituent des plaisirs de la vie urbaine pour nombre de citadins, et j'inclus dans ce terme non seulement les habitants des villes, mais aussi toute personne qui les fréquente et les apprécie. Ces relations ne sont pas seulement le sel de la vie urbaine, ce sont aussi des ingrédients essentiels pour développer des sentiments d'appartenance et de confiance. Durant une période de semi-confinement comme celle que nous connaissons en Suisse en 2020, ces formes de relations pourraient bien manquer da-vantage que les liens forts qui nous lient à nos proches.
…
Divercities: Understanding super diversity in deprived and mixed neighbourhoods, 2019
***This is the 4th chapter of my PhD dissertation. It has been published in an edited book. Pleas... more ***This is the 4th chapter of my PhD dissertation. It has been published in an edited book. Please consider this version as a pre-print and refer to the published version.***
In Chapter 2, Maxime Felder investigates the complex relation between interest and indifference and separation and exposure between neighbours in four socially and ethnically heterogeneous buildings in the Swiss city of Geneva. He looks at the conditions under which urbanites learn about their neighbours and the factors that contribute to maintaining their strangeness (meant as unusual and unfamiliar characteristics). Felder draws an important distinction between not knowing someone personally but being familiar and not knowing of someone’s existence. From his empirical analysis, it seems that good neighbours do not need to be ‘like us’ as long as they are friendly and do not threaten our interests and privacy. Still, the combination of physical proximity and lack of acquaintance makes neighbours into strangers. Urbanites deal with their life among strangers and the incomplete knowledge they have of their neighbours with a back- and-forth movement between normalising and fantasising. In this way, urban residents balance their need for normality with their attraction to strangeness and diversity.
The chapter authored by Maxime Felder and Loïc Pignolo proposes a comparative analysis of shoppin... more The chapter authored by Maxime Felder and Loïc Pignolo proposes a comparative analysis of shopping streets in three different French-speaking cities: Geneva, Paris and Brussels. The research draws on a strong line of research in urban sociology and urban studies on consumption in the city, including a comparative perspective. Sharon Zukin, for instance, has been working on this issue for several years (Zukin et al , 2009; Zukin, 2012; Zukin, Kasinitz & Chen, 2015) In this text, the shops are viewed as “key elements of the objectification of a place identity”, where it can be negotiated and manufactured. Through observation, formal encounters and interviews with shop owners, shopkeepers and shop users, the authors build a story of each street, mobilising buildings, everyday practices, representations and the context and history of surrounding neighbourhoods. In each street, we get to know some businesses and some local actors
In all the portrayed cases, the authors argue, shops are fundamental elements of the narratives about local identity, constituting physical markers of its different aspects. Felder and Pignolo share with the reader three ways in which shops may be interpreted as the “bricks-and-mortar of place identity”: as material components of the streetscape, designed by the owners whose decisions can affect the street’s look and feel; as symbolic means used to objectify place identity, and finally by allowing or restricting interpretations, through their mere presence.
Some shops might not cohere with a certain attempt to make sense of a place, and thus force the person or group to adjust the narrative and corresponding practices. The authors conclude by asserting that shops help narratives on place identity to retain coherence and stability, suggesting, however, that not all shops have the same urban influential capacities.
In the second half of the nineties, due to growing heterogeneity and fragmentation of the social ... more In the second half of the nineties, due to growing heterogeneity and fragmentation of the social and urban structure, and the arrival of new lifestyles (of nationals as well as of 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.
Uploads
Peer-reviewed papers by Maxime Felder
Mots clés : jeunesse, citoyenneté, rituels, majorité, communes
Citizens but not adults? Injunction to be responsible and citizens in official coming of age rituals in Switzerland
Swiss municipalities organize ceremonies for their residents reaching the official age of full citizenship. In the six studied municipalities, local authorities invite them to a municipal council’s meeting, offer them a dinner or an aperitif, or organize them a show and a debate with role models. Speeches are central to these ceremonies, and authority representatives encourage their audience to be “good” citizens. Call to vote is the leitmotiv, but discourses reveal broader definitions of citizenship, insisting sometimes on a local commitment and volunteering, and sometimes on the necessity to fight climate change and inequalities. Comparing officials’ speeches to statements of young people participating in these events reveals “tensions”. Indeed, authority representatives address young citizens without considering them as fully adult, and they do not consider themselves as such neither. However, some of them are already involved in forms of vernacular citizenship, and are progressively leaving the municipality to study, work or travel. Ultimately, these ceremonies allow officials to stage their interest in the youth, which they consider as both uncompleted and essential to the renewal of democracy.
Key words: youth, citizenship, rituals, majority, municipality
L’hétérogénéité de la population des centres urbains européens est souvent présentée comme une cohabitation de divers groupes (ethniques, nationaux, sociaux). L’article questionne cette perspective en se demandant comment — dans des immeubles dont la population reflète la mobilité internationale, les inégalités socioéconomiques mais aussi la diversification des modes de vie — les individus eux-mêmes perçoivent cette hétérogénéité. À travers des entretiens avec des résidents de quatre immeubles de Genève, j’analyse la manière dont ils décrivent leurs voisins. Plutôt que de les classer en groupes et de se référer à « nous » et à « eux », les interviewés combinent des catégories qui varient selon le voisin dont il est question. Toutefois, même pour les anciens résidents, certains voisins restent des inconnus dont ils ignorent jusqu’à l’existence. J’interprète ceci comme une conséquence de la grande hétérogénéité de la population étudiée, mais aussi de la moindre visibilité des voisins et de leurs activités, ainsi que de l’absence, à l’échelle des immeubles du moins, de réseaux de voisinage stables et soudés. Ainsi, loin d’être toujours des espaces d’interconnaissance, les immeubles s’apparentent à une juxtaposition d’espaces privés (les appartements) et quasi publics (les parties communes), où la coexistence passe par des formes de retenue et d’indifférence à l’égard des autres et de leurs différences.
Abstract
Diversity on the Doorstep. Everyday Categorization of Neighbours
European city centres are characterized by their heterogeneous populations. In Geneva, people from diverse origins and social positions dwell in the same buildings. This offers the opportunity to analyze how this heterogeneity appears to urbanites’ eyes, when they speak about each other. Through interviews with dwellers of four residential buildings, I show that rather than classifying their neighbours into groups and referring to “us” and “them”, interviewees combine categories which vary depending on the person to be described. Moreover, some neighbours remain unknown even to long-time residents. I interpret these findings as a consequence of the heterogeneity of the studied population, but also of the lack of visibility of each other’s behaviour, as well as of the absence—at the residential building’s level—of stable and cohesive groups. Consequently, residential buildings can belong to the public realm. Parts of them remain unknown territory populated by strangers, with whom coexistence is facilitated by self-restraint and indifference.
Key words: urban, , , , ,
Book chapters by Maxime Felder
…
In Chapter 2, Maxime Felder investigates the complex relation between interest and indifference and separation and exposure between neighbours in four socially and ethnically heterogeneous buildings in the Swiss city of Geneva. He looks at the conditions under which urbanites learn about their neighbours and the factors that contribute to maintaining their strangeness (meant as unusual and unfamiliar characteristics). Felder draws an important distinction between not knowing someone personally but being familiar and not knowing of someone’s existence. From his empirical analysis, it seems that good neighbours do not need to be ‘like us’ as long as they are friendly and do not threaten our interests and privacy. Still, the combination of physical proximity and lack of acquaintance makes neighbours into strangers. Urbanites deal with their life among strangers and the incomplete knowledge they have of their neighbours with a back- and-forth movement between normalising and fantasising. In this way, urban residents balance their need for normality with their attraction to strangeness and diversity.
In all the portrayed cases, the authors argue, shops are fundamental elements of the narratives about local identity, constituting physical markers of its different aspects. Felder and Pignolo share with the reader three ways in which shops may be interpreted as the “bricks-and-mortar of place identity”: as material components of the streetscape, designed by the owners whose decisions can affect the street’s look and feel; as symbolic means used to objectify place identity, and finally by allowing or restricting interpretations, through their mere presence.
Some shops might not cohere with a certain attempt to make sense of a place, and thus force the person or group to adjust the narrative and corresponding practices. The authors conclude by asserting that shops help narratives on place identity to retain coherence and stability, suggesting, however, that not all shops have the same urban influential capacities.
Mots clés : jeunesse, citoyenneté, rituels, majorité, communes
Citizens but not adults? Injunction to be responsible and citizens in official coming of age rituals in Switzerland
Swiss municipalities organize ceremonies for their residents reaching the official age of full citizenship. In the six studied municipalities, local authorities invite them to a municipal council’s meeting, offer them a dinner or an aperitif, or organize them a show and a debate with role models. Speeches are central to these ceremonies, and authority representatives encourage their audience to be “good” citizens. Call to vote is the leitmotiv, but discourses reveal broader definitions of citizenship, insisting sometimes on a local commitment and volunteering, and sometimes on the necessity to fight climate change and inequalities. Comparing officials’ speeches to statements of young people participating in these events reveals “tensions”. Indeed, authority representatives address young citizens without considering them as fully adult, and they do not consider themselves as such neither. However, some of them are already involved in forms of vernacular citizenship, and are progressively leaving the municipality to study, work or travel. Ultimately, these ceremonies allow officials to stage their interest in the youth, which they consider as both uncompleted and essential to the renewal of democracy.
Key words: youth, citizenship, rituals, majority, municipality
L’hétérogénéité de la population des centres urbains européens est souvent présentée comme une cohabitation de divers groupes (ethniques, nationaux, sociaux). L’article questionne cette perspective en se demandant comment — dans des immeubles dont la population reflète la mobilité internationale, les inégalités socioéconomiques mais aussi la diversification des modes de vie — les individus eux-mêmes perçoivent cette hétérogénéité. À travers des entretiens avec des résidents de quatre immeubles de Genève, j’analyse la manière dont ils décrivent leurs voisins. Plutôt que de les classer en groupes et de se référer à « nous » et à « eux », les interviewés combinent des catégories qui varient selon le voisin dont il est question. Toutefois, même pour les anciens résidents, certains voisins restent des inconnus dont ils ignorent jusqu’à l’existence. J’interprète ceci comme une conséquence de la grande hétérogénéité de la population étudiée, mais aussi de la moindre visibilité des voisins et de leurs activités, ainsi que de l’absence, à l’échelle des immeubles du moins, de réseaux de voisinage stables et soudés. Ainsi, loin d’être toujours des espaces d’interconnaissance, les immeubles s’apparentent à une juxtaposition d’espaces privés (les appartements) et quasi publics (les parties communes), où la coexistence passe par des formes de retenue et d’indifférence à l’égard des autres et de leurs différences.
Abstract
Diversity on the Doorstep. Everyday Categorization of Neighbours
European city centres are characterized by their heterogeneous populations. In Geneva, people from diverse origins and social positions dwell in the same buildings. This offers the opportunity to analyze how this heterogeneity appears to urbanites’ eyes, when they speak about each other. Through interviews with dwellers of four residential buildings, I show that rather than classifying their neighbours into groups and referring to “us” and “them”, interviewees combine categories which vary depending on the person to be described. Moreover, some neighbours remain unknown even to long-time residents. I interpret these findings as a consequence of the heterogeneity of the studied population, but also of the lack of visibility of each other’s behaviour, as well as of the absence—at the residential building’s level—of stable and cohesive groups. Consequently, residential buildings can belong to the public realm. Parts of them remain unknown territory populated by strangers, with whom coexistence is facilitated by self-restraint and indifference.
Key words: urban, , , , ,
…
In Chapter 2, Maxime Felder investigates the complex relation between interest and indifference and separation and exposure between neighbours in four socially and ethnically heterogeneous buildings in the Swiss city of Geneva. He looks at the conditions under which urbanites learn about their neighbours and the factors that contribute to maintaining their strangeness (meant as unusual and unfamiliar characteristics). Felder draws an important distinction between not knowing someone personally but being familiar and not knowing of someone’s existence. From his empirical analysis, it seems that good neighbours do not need to be ‘like us’ as long as they are friendly and do not threaten our interests and privacy. Still, the combination of physical proximity and lack of acquaintance makes neighbours into strangers. Urbanites deal with their life among strangers and the incomplete knowledge they have of their neighbours with a back- and-forth movement between normalising and fantasising. In this way, urban residents balance their need for normality with their attraction to strangeness and diversity.
In all the portrayed cases, the authors argue, shops are fundamental elements of the narratives about local identity, constituting physical markers of its different aspects. Felder and Pignolo share with the reader three ways in which shops may be interpreted as the “bricks-and-mortar of place identity”: as material components of the streetscape, designed by the owners whose decisions can affect the street’s look and feel; as symbolic means used to objectify place identity, and finally by allowing or restricting interpretations, through their mere presence.
Some shops might not cohere with a certain attempt to make sense of a place, and thus force the person or group to adjust the narrative and corresponding practices. The authors conclude by asserting that shops help narratives on place identity to retain coherence and stability, suggesting, however, that not all shops have the same urban influential capacities.
Genève, dans les quartiers de la Jonction, des Eaux-Vives et des Pâquis. Le cas de Genève représente en effet un défi pour les analyses classiques de la ville. Les multiples vagues de migrations, mais aussi la présence des organisations et entreprises internationales, et la faible ségrégation, contribuent à produire des rues que les groupes de populations les plus divers doivent
partager. Comment vivent donc ces citadins et citadines dans des contextes urbains se caractérisant par une forte mixité et une grande mobilité ? Le quartier et la rue ont-ils aujourd’hui perdu de leur importance à leurs yeux, au profit de multiples autres échelles plus larges? La mobilité et les hybridations tendent-elles à diminuer la possibilité d’identifier les quartiers et les rues, et leurs particularités? Les six portraits de rue constituant cet ouvrage proposent de s’intéresser à ces questions, en interrogeant la notion d’habiter et en montrant différentes logiques qui permettent à des personnes aux profils variés de cohabiter.
from somebody who is not? Swiss social anthropologist Susanne Wessendorf sets out to tackle this question in her book Commonplace Diversity. Working in the UK with Steven Vertovec (who coined the much-used term ‘super-diversity’ in a 2007 article), she engages in a particular stream of research focusing on the ‘diversification of diversity’, resulting from new patterns of migration. This book concentrates on the consequences of such diversification with regard to everyday interactions at neighbourhood level. In contrast with the ‘old diversity’, a super-diverse context makes it hard to categorize strangers. The clear-cut ‘majority–minority’ situation has been replaced by a multitude of minorities, with all groups being more heterogeneous than ever before, having multiple origins and different legal statuses, representing different generations and being differently transnationally connected.
L’idée d’un supposé désintérêt des jeunes pour la chose publique est ancienne, rappelle Maxime Felder. En réalité, «les jeunes ne se comportent pas de façon très différente des adultes». A une exception près: le vote. C’est là que le moi entre en ligne de compte. «Beaucoup d’adultes finissent par un compromis: faire confiance à tel parti. Ces jeunes, à qui on demande d’être autonomes, vivent plusieurs transitions en même temps. ils ont une conscience aiguë, à ce moment de leur vie, qu’ils se définissent en tant qu’individus par leurs choix. Comment un parti ou un politicien va-t-il les représenter, s’ils sont uniques? Devoir dire oui ou non, et l’idée d’adhérer à une idéologie, pose problème.» Le fait qu’ils soient si bien informés, précisément, peut accentuer encore leur difficulté à trancher. «Cela peut favoriser l’abstentionnisme, conclut Maxime Felder, mais c’est faire fausse route que d’associer cela au désintérêt.»
Un projet financé par l’Union européenne et impliquant l’université de Genève met sous la loupe la politique sociale de vingt villes européennes, entre 2010 et fin 2013. Il semble que les meilleurs modèles renforcent en outre l’attractivité des centres urbains.
Au cours des dernières années, dans un contexte de crise économique plus ou moins prononcé, les villes européennes ont connu une évolution souvent contrastée, avec la montée d’inégalités et de formes d’exclusion. Soucieuse d’en savoir davantage, l’Union européenne a financé le projet Wilco* (comme Welfare innovations at the local level in favour of cohesion), qui s’est focalisé sur les innovations sociales, leur développement et leur évolution. La cible était constituée de vingt cités européennes - soit deux pour les dix pays participants, à savoir la Croatie, France, Allemagne, Italie, Pays-Bas, Pologne, Espagne, Suède, Suisse et le Royaume-Uni.
Le projet a tout d'abord analysé les problèmes sociaux dans ces métropoles en mettant l'accent sur les jeunes, les migrants et les familles monoparentales. Ensuite, le projet a utilisé des interviews pour examiner 77 innovations visant à traiter ces questions, et analyser les orientations politiques prépondérantes des acteurs clés dans ces domaines. En Suisse, Genève et Berne étaient les deux villes choisies et c’est le professeur de sociologie à l’université de Genève, Sandro Cattacin, qui a coordonnée la recherche. Ses éléments les plus saillants ont été réunis dans un ouvrage*. D’après lui, il se dessinerait aujourd’hui un retour à un mode de fonctionnement qui a prévalu au XIXème siècle, quand les centres urbains étaient au centre des défis sociaux. Bien que les enjeux soient en grande partie similaires dans les villes, les réponses locales s’avèrent toutefois très différentes. Ainsi, quatre types de régimes urbains de gouvernance ont été identifiés, comme l’étaient les conditions les plus essentielles à la survie et à la diffusion des innovations. C’est là que le projet débouche sur des conclusions originales et intéressantes que nous résume Maxime Felder, l’assistant de Sandro Cattacin et auteur d’un chapitre de cet ouvrage.
However, given the local scale of most of these initiatives, the dispersion in space and political sensitivity, much of what is happening around these ‘welcoming spaces’ remains under the radar. Also, such initiatives are well documented in large metropolitan areas. This session focuses instead on the development of the welcoming capacity of secondary cities, of towns, of villages, or of ‘shrinking regions’ that are undergoing demographic and economic decline.
In this session, we welcome papers analysing these trends over time, focusing on the evolution of policy or of infrastructure targeting newcomers or used by newcomers. How do ‘welcoming spaces’ appear and evolve? How can local initiatives be upscaled? Have some categorical differences (of age, gender, status, …) become more or less relevant in shaping these ‘welcoming spaces’? Finally, do revitalisation, inclusive and sustainable development of shrinking regions or less urbanised areas improve hospitality towards newcomers and increase opportunities for migrants to build meaningful lives?
The session is related to two distinct research projects. The first is the Horizon 2020 project WELCOMING SPACES, composed of different universities, stakeholders and research centres located in five European countries. The second is named ‘Urban (In)Hospitality: What place for precarious newcomers in European cities’ and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
This session aims to explore the hospitality of urban spaces through the eyes, bodies and expectations of newcomers. The session's focus is twofold. Firstly, it focuses on newcomers in urban environments. Newcomers do not necessarily come from far away, nor have they always arrived at their final destination. They represent a variety of legal statuses and socioeconomic positions. The notion of the newcomer allows for a comparison of these characteristics and how they are assigned to public and legal categories and how they shape the experiences of people coming to a city that is unfamiliar or unknown to them. On the one hand, the term newcomer is broader than, for example, migrant or refugee, because it includes people who do not necessarily define themselves as such. On the other hand, it is more precise because it does not assume that migrants or refugees are necessarily newcomers.
Secondly, this session focuses on hospitality as "a quality of environments, situations, ambiances, objects, spaces, buildings or institutions" (Stavo-Debauge, 2018). Hospitality refers to the capacity to receive people and to enable their experiences and activities. In this respect, hospitality might not only be a matter of openness. Spaces to which theoretically everyone has access may prove inhospitable to newcomers (Lofland, 1998). In order to be effective in the long term, hospitality might require more than the opening of borders and the erasing of barriers. This perspective allows us to move beyond the dichotomies of inclusion/exclusion and in/out. For instance, hospitality refers to the opportunity to enjoy what the city has to offer and to experience pleasant sensory experiences. The broader aim of the session is to delve into the arrival moment (the first weeks and months) and all that stands between the newcomer's first steps in a new city and the moment when the question of "integration" arises (the most studied moment, associated with the idea of the "inclusive" city). It is in this in between that one can observe all the uncertainty and ambiguity