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Citizens but not Adults? Injunction to be Responsible and Citizens in Official Coming of Age Rituals in Switzerland
Place of publication | Year of publication | Collation: 
Montréal (Québec) | 2018 | p. 108-127
Author: 
Maxime Felder; Laurence Ossipow; Isabelle Csupor
Corporate author: 
Lien social et Politiques
Region: 
Europe and North America
Global

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.

Resource Type: 
Research papers / journal articles
Curriculum, teaching-learning materials and guides
Theme: 
Civic / Citizenship / Democracy
Diversity / cultural literacy / inclusive
Globalisation and social justice / International understanding
Level of education: 
Secondary education
Higher education
Lifelong learning
Non-formal education