Urbans rituals as spaces of memory and belonging: A Geneva case study

Abstract How do cities include newcomers and established inhabitants? Do urban rituals bring people together? Because of their relative anonymity and accessibility, public rituals – as temporary processes of inclusion or emphasizers of differences – are likely to include people with respect to their differences and any intersections of these. We examine three cases in Geneva, a high mobility city – the Escalade, the Fetes de Geneve and the Saga des Geants – and their potential to foster scepticism (i.e. exclusion) or belonging (i.e. inclusion). Our policy-relevant findings indicate that in post-migration societies, rituals are crucial in fostering belonging, especially when they are based on an open narrative, organized by or with civil-society organizations and based on elements that permit the emotional involvement of the participants. We confront this emic perspective with an etic one, using variables derived from our investigation of public policies and rituals to analyse our observations and public representations of the events.