/ Studium / Jan Weber
Hospitality contra exclusion? Institutionalising Solidarity in Zurich in the Shadow of Humanitarianism and Border Violence
Jan Weber | Master Thesis , 2024
This thesis analyses the constitution of Zurich as a ‘Solidarity City’ in the context of manifestations of the European border and migration regime in urban spaces and institutions. It identifies a tendency towards a simplified understanding of the functioning of borders in urban spaces which ascribes to local hospitality the ability to act as a counterweight to restrictive national migration policies. This simplification can lead to an understanding of borders as ‘walls’ that either exclude or confine people. However, the thesis argues that borders actually function as dynamic regimes that selectively manage migration, regulating both inclusion and exclusion in complex ways that require urban solidarity efforts to navigate within these frameworks. This perspective reveals the deeper layers of state practices and the need for critical engagement with the complex functions and effects of borders in urban politics. The applied qualitative methodology of the study includes critical discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in the development and implementation of a municipal ID card known as the Züri City Card. The project's efforts are constrained by national and international laws and practices that deeply embed border mechanisms in everyday life and public space. While solidarity cities like Zurich can achieve important improvements in the quality of life for migrants, they simultaneously reproduce the logic and violence of state practices by adopting simplified concepts of borders. Such reproduction contributes to the consolidation of existing power structures and mechanisms of oppression. An effective solidarity strategy must therefore include both immediate humanitarian measures and long-term structural changes to address not only the symptoms but also the state practices that produce them.