The LLSETI Laboratory invites you to attend the lecture “Who Can Participate? Debates on the Political Participation of Women and Foreign Residents in Switzerland Since 1945” by Ms. Zoé Kergomard, a researcher at the University of Zurich.
It will take place on Friday, March 25, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. To participate, simply email stephanie.chapuis-despres@univ-smb.fr. You will receive the link a few days before the conference. Registration is open until March 23.
CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
In Switzerland and beyond, Swiss democracy is often portrayed as exemplary, even exceptional, due to the opportunities for public participation offered by both direct democracy and federalism. But this distinctive feature has served, and continues to serve, as an argument for limiting access to it, as if such extensive participation were meant to remain confined to a sort of exclusive club. This conference revisits the debates in the Swiss public sphere surrounding the political participation of women and foreign residents (two categories that are obviously not mutually exclusive) since 1945. While the belated introduction of women’s suffrage at the federal level in 1971 marked a fundamental turning point in the history of Swiss democracy, it does not resolve the issue of democratic inclusion in a country where foreign residents— who today make up around 25% of the population—are objects but not subjects of direct democracy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- The LLSETi Laboratory Website