Urban in : exclusion processes and public policy Antonio de Cunha 37

Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy

Antonio de Cunha 2 New poverty in Switzerland: the end of the Swiss model 1 Introduction Up until the late 1980s, Switzerland passed through Cities worldwide are affected by the profound periods of crisis with practically no unemployment. transformation in modes of production and in the The "Swiss model" meant prosperity. well-being distribution of wealth. The new international di- and füll employment. This Situation has changed vision of labor has led to the renewed strength of since the early 1990s. Globalization. the dismissal economic actors, and the extraordinary mobility of of knowledge and the deskilling of trades and a capital has been accentuating existing problems of regime of economic growth without corresponding economic dependence. New production and growth in employment have adversely affected communication technologies have been revolu- Swiss society.These changes manifest themselves in tionizing the Organization of labor and production different ways: technological change, flexible and have been transforming lifestyles and terri- management and production and the cumulative tories. While the economy is globalizing and mo- effects of budgetary restrictions act on society as a dernizing, the world is metropolitanizing, and cities whole; unemployment. precariousness and exclu¬ have become the principle locales for these trans- sion. however, have a selective impact in a labor formations. market that has become essentially urban. Cities in which the majority of the world's popu- In Switzerland. as elsewhere, a dual society with lation now resides have never been so wealthy. so segmented labor markets emerge.There is a smaller comfortable, so well equipped and so diverse. To- segment of the technology. Communications and In¬ day's cities are foci of technologies that overcome formation oriented high skilled and a larger distance and offer new Services for the globalizing segment of rather low-skilled labor. Known as the economy. Cities also play a role of "uncertainty Microsoft-McDonalds phenomenon. this labor reducers" because they allow firms to adjust to market segmentation has become the dominant changes easily: not only can entrepreneurs rely on component of social and spatial strueture (Cunha, a broad supply of public and private Services, but Leresche & Vez 1997). also can thcy draw on an abundant and diversified labor market (Veltz 1993).Thus, cities continue to 2.1 Urban inequality, poverty and exclusion be an ideal terrain for profitable Investments. Switzerland reveals an emergence of inequalities, These, in turn, impose lifestyles centered on the poverty and exclusion. There is growth of: isolated, abstract, anonymous individual, a re- long-term unemployment, placeable support for skills that can be mobilized job-seekers no longer eligible for unemployment at any moment by the indifferent and equally benefits and anonymous urban labor markets oriented towards the number of people in financially precarious greater flcxibility. Although cities continue to be situations. major centers of innovation and economic growth they have also become factories of exclusion The erosion of the social fabric corresponds with (CLERcl993),though: the degeneration of the places in which people construet their daily lives. As recent studies (Leu, the shift away from stable towards more flexible Burri & Priester 1997, Liechti & Knöpfl 1998 for forms of employment. a nationwide assessment) show, precariousness, the individualization of societies and poverty and exclusion do not constitute a speeifi- the loss of social protection associated with the cally urban problem in Switzerland. It is in the crisis of the State (Castll 1995). urban agglomerations, however. that the "new social question" has become a new collective The "nelwork societies" of the Information age concern. Poverty lodges itself there, in the heart of (Castells 1996) are urban societies threatened by abundance itself. inercasing inequalitics and the disintegration of Cities are complex.ambivalent and uncertain social social bonds (Racine 1994; Bassand 1997: Lipietz Systems.They are centers of economic and symbolic 1997). Switzerland, too, is subjeet to these ten- aecumulation around which entire regions are dencies (Cunha 1994; Cunha, Leresche & Vez struetured. Cities record all of the dysfunetions and 1998). all of the ruptures of collective life. They are thus 38 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft 1

called upon to play a privileged role in the appli- The study presented in this paper was mandated by cation of public regulatory interventions designed the City of Lausanne. It specifically tried to address to prevent and to control the processes of exclusion. the dimensions of poverty in the capital of the Canton of and to establish a profile of the po- 2.2 Studying urban poverty pulations concerned, with a view on possible policy as a social construction action. This involved, of course, quantifying poverty, Poverty has become a central issue in public debate but also highlighting vulnerable groups, and and numerous studies since the late 1980s. Maraz- identifying the processes and factors leading to zi's (1986) pioneer study generated little interest insecurity in the urban environment. initially, as it seemed incongruous to assert the exis- The following sections present the principal con- tence of poverty in the richest country of the cepts that were employed in this study, based on a world. Yet, its contribution is profound because it number of working hypotheses. Also addressed are introduced the problem of poverty by treating it as some methodological aspects as they apply to the a phenomenon generated by social structures and analysis of urban precariousness. Last, this paper at the center of society, rather than as the particu¬ discusses the political struggle against exclusion lar characteristic of a marginal group. Thus, the over the last few years, and addresses the role of pertinence of the problem of "new poverty" was local authorities in social assistance, professional demonstrated in a country which, unlike its ¬ reinsertion, and financial aid to low-income groups. pean neighbors, had not yet been confronted with growing unemployment. Studies in other cantons supported this notion (Hainard 1990;Perruchoud- 3 Urban poverty and social exclusion: massy 1991;Joliat 1992; Füglistaler& Hohl 1992; a pluralistic approach Farago & Füglistaler 1992; Binder & Ulrich 1992; Flockiger 1996). Rising economic problems in the This analysis utilized a combination of three ap¬ urban agglomerations made some cities assess their proaches to poverty: social Situation (Corajoud & Piotet 1994; Cunha the "resources approach", et al. 1995). This clearly showed that poverty is not the "conditions of existence" approach a scientific concept that can be assessed with abso¬ the "poverty as a process and experience" lute accuracy. According to different studies conduc- approach. ted on a global and local scale, the percentage of the population that officially qualify as poor falls into The first two concepts characterize urban poverty the 6 to 14% ränge.This, however, does not include and the third reconstructs individual trajectories of those with incomes just above the poverty line. social disqualification. Thus, the processes can be Although there were a variety of definitions and uncovered underlying the weakening of Integration methodological approaches in Swiss poverty and the experiences of people confronted by studies they did provide a deeper understanding of insecurity and exclusion. the different manifestations of poverty. Hence, they permit the analysis of underlying causes and show 3.1 The resources approach the different ways in which people in precarious According to Dickes (1984, 1990a) definitions of situations experience the processes of impoverish- poverty may: ment and exclusion. Poverty, thus, is a multidimen- address poverty as a condition or as a process, sional phenomenon, which effects all spheres of differ in their "absolute" or "relative" character existence: lack of resources, absence of control over focus on revenue alone or incorporate a wider living conditions, social disqualification, and the conception of resources (cultural poverty, impossibility of making plans for the future. In sum, poverty of relationships), these studies also opened up a debate on the analyze poverty from the point of view of inadequacy of the Swiss social security System and living conditions, based on "objective" Statistical on the need for inventive Solutions. criteria, or based upon individuals' perceptions Poverty has a thousand faces and generates a thou- of their Situation. sand policy responses, all of them less than perfect. The fact that poverty and exclusion are only Relative poverty as compared to the average well- partially understood calls for a pluralistic approach being highlights the importance of the lifestyle studying these issues. A pluralistic approach mobi- specific to a society. This contextual relativity is lizes diverse definitions and analytical techniques directly linked to an interpersonal relativity. In a in a complementary perspective in order to hierarchical society, individuals are poor in relation comprehensively understand the manifestations of to others. Contextual relativity, thus, is a phenome¬ urban poverty. non that reveals the effects of unequal access to Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy Antonio de Cunha 39

resources. Poverty is essentially the result of social This leads to a second proposition that may help us relations: there are poor people only because there understand urban poverty: situations of poverty may are others who are rieh. combine a triple deficit in economic resources, in in- In highly monetized societies the coneepts of re¬ dividual cultural capital (level of education), and in lative or absolute poverty relate to deficiencies in the degree of Integration in urban (and family and monetary resources. The notion of revenue remains, social) life. It is by taking jointly into consideration therefore, fundamental materially and methodo- these three types of resources (economic capital, logically. In an urbanized society where money is the cultural capital and relational capital) that it becomes prineipal mediator that ensures existence, having a possible to explain the diversity of urban poverty. minimum disposable income is of critical impor¬ Poverty comprises two dimensions: total volume of tance. Threshold levels pertaining to low income resources or capital and the relative weights of the allows to identify those groups within a population different types of capital individuals possess. that are at the highest risk of exclusion. Hence, poverty can be analyzed using all three Hence: in highly monetized societies, the volume of arguments (the three types of capital), only two economic resources determines the relative position arguments (two types of capital), one alone, or of individuals on a continuum measuring different none. In total, four types of vulnerability were poverty situations; in this unidimensional but identified within a representative sample of 20% of significant perspective, relative poverty is necessarily the households in Lausanne (11,300 households) at defined in relation to an income level that tends to in- the lower end of the income scale (Tab. 1). crease along with the general increase in wealth. Along this continuum, there are different degrees Sociodemographic profiles of economic insecurity. One can, for example, speak oflow income households of "low-income groups", of groups in precarious The risk factors associated with the different financial situations, or of the poor in the strictest degrees of vulnerability are multiple, which is indi- sense of the term. Different studies adopt monetary cative of the great heterogeneity within low- measures considered in international comparisons income groups. The sociodemographic profiles of to reveal situations of relative and/or absolute the different subgroups of low-income households poverty. The threshold of 50% of average or median are significantly different.The active households in income per person (i.e. household member) is the two most vulnerable groups suffer from finan- often chosen. Choices of this type are as arbitrary as are when they necessary beginning empirical Degree of Number of % of total % of house¬ Disposable research or defining eligibility for social policy vulnerability households sample holds in income/unit of measures. Lausanne consumption1 The Swiss Conference of Social Institutions places in low-income households the line at 1800 Swiss francs poverty approximately (in Str.) month for a Single household.The limit per person Very below which complementary benefits are paid, and vulnerable 1400 13% 3% 1600.- which constitutes a sort of official poverty line for Vulnerable 3600 32% 6% 2010.- of retirement is 2200 francs of people age, dispos¬ Slightly able income per month for a Single houseold.When vulnerable 4500 40% 8% 2430.- these to applying criteria Switzerland, 680,000 Very slightly people are living in a financially precarious Situa¬ vulnerable 1800 16% 3% 2850.- tion. This is not an abstract or theoretical Total 11300 100% 20% 2260.- precariousness. Rather, it refers to a Situation 1 Disposable income per consumption unit (total net revenue where the conditions of existence are below the - taxes) /family equivalence coefficienl. where Ihe family equi- level authorities consider a minimum and below valence coefficient refers to a term borrowed from family bud¬ which one has the right to assistance. In Lausanne, get analysis that allributes different weights to the consumpti¬ 13% (=7402) of the households live below this on ofeach household member (1.0 for the first adult.OJfor the second 0.5 for a threshold level. adull. child. etc.). A household composed of two adults and one child would have a coefficient of 2.2. as an In a free market society, il is essentially income example. level that establishes "poverty". However, income and resources translate into other aspects as well, Tab. 1: Disposable income per unit of consumption in notably in terms of qualification and degree of low-income households in 1994 social Integration. Still viewed from the angle of Revenu disponible par wüte de consommation dans les personal resources, poverty thus becomes a multi- foyer ä bas revenu 1994 dimensional coneept, measurable through an Verfügbares Einkommen pro Verbrauchseinheit in aecumulation of disadvantages. Haushalten mit unterem Einkommen 1994 40 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft 1

cial poverty but also from Job insecurity (25%).The Measurements of urban poverty according to living average age of the head of household is relatively conditions should not be considered as a competi- high. Widows/widowers and divorcees are more tive, but rather as a complementary approach to the widely represented than Singles or couples with child- measures of financial. cultural or social resources. ren. Foreigners are also over-represented. It is Following Hauser (1984), Dickes (1994) discusses obvious that the "very vulnerable" population is hea- the definition of LC-type (living conditions) vily impacted by the disintegration of social bonds. poverty, distinguishing it from the previous R-type 60% of the individuals belonging to this group de- (revenue) poverty. A third proposition may help clared that they have no one in their entourage to guide reflections on poverty in this regard. help them out in case of difficulties. In this group on Poverty is a State of deprivation or under-provisioning the edge of exclusion, one rarely finds middle or in one or more spheres of existence. When describing senior executives in search of employment, but poverty, it is necessary to take into consideration both rather manual laborers with little or no training. personal resources and the conditions of existence Level of training and degree of Integration in the (housing, , leisure, etc.) System of production remain the cornerstones of From an economic point of view, a poor person is social stratification and access to income. Detailed anyone with a low income who is, in addition, analysis of the socioprofessional characteristics of "under-provisioned", that is, deprived of goods and the other groups, however, reveal that poverty is Services necessary to cover basic needs (Binder & no longer incompatible with stable employment Ulrich, 1992). Poverty, thus, is closely associated (salaried or ) nor with high quali- with the idea of under-provisioning resulting from fications (new poor). insolvency. People may be considered to be in a The most disadvantaged groups are generally State of deprivation or of under-provisioning if they located in the neighborhoods to the west of the city, do not have the same diet, clothing, housing, in- or in central neighborhoods of low residential frastructure, working conditions. leisure activities, quality.The map localizing the groups most exposed access to health and other Services, etc., that are to the risk of poverty coincides to a great degree customary, or at least widely diffused in the society with location of subsidized housing. Poverty, thus, in which they live. appears as a geographically concentrated phe¬ Results showed that 7% 3758) of Lausanne's nomenon, but one that is heterogeneous from a households experience under-provisioning in one social point of view. Distinct strata exist within the or more spheres of existence. These households low-income population. This differentiation may generally judge their Situation to be less favorable imply failure of social policies that are not indivi- than that of those close to them. Single-parent dualized but rather maintain a universal character. families experience the greatest discrepancy in relation to their social or family milieu. In general, 3.2 The conditions of existence approach - rent, expenses for food, health insurance and taxes "under-provisioning" and deprivation constitute the principal sources of financial diffi¬ Different sorts of financial resources or capital culties for a population of which 16% of the house¬ translate into different uses individuals may make hold heads are job-seekers. Within the sample thereof. Resources are generally active and effi- population,one fourth ofthe tenants pay a rent that cienl. They are like trump cards useful for the exceeds one third of their income. 25% 2847) appropriation of goods and Services to satisfy indi- declared to be heavily indebted. vidual demands (Bourdieu, 1987). The notion of "poor resources", "precariousness" or "poverty" 3.3 Poverty as process and experience: thus defined leads directly to the concepl of de¬ deskilling of labor and social disaffiliation privation often employed in the analysis of the The resources and conditions of existence ap- most disadvantaged populations. proaches suggest that one is not always born poor, In his studies on destitution, Nobel Laureate Sen that one can become poor, however, through a combi- (1983) abandons the term of poverty in favor of nation of multiple factors.There is a consensus that that of deprivation, which he uses to accentuate the one needs to understand poverty also as a dynamic, dimension of accessibility to material or immaterial evolving process which brings individuals, through goods. According to Runciman (1966), the mecha- progressive and successive disengagements to nism of relative deprivation relies on a comparison situations of deprivation and extreme isolation. by the Ego between his level of consumption and Indeed, since the beginning of this decade, many that of a person or group of persons serving as a authors have concentrated on analyzing the reference. Not having access to the same living mechanisms that weaken integration in work and conditions as the reference group becomes for the social spheres (Castel 1991, 1992, 1995; Paugam Ego a source of frustration and ill-being. 1991,1993, 1996). Some authors also consider the Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy Antonio de Cunha 41

impact of impoverishment on identity, the way the poor experience the degradation of their financial s and social Situation and the strategies that they 0 adopt in (Messu 1991; De Gaujelac & c response Individuation Integration Taboada Leonetti 1994). 1 A The analysis of poverty as a process is concerned with the: L reconstitution of individual in order trajectories D to the mechanisms of identify exclusion, 1 practices, aspirations and representations of S Precariousness individuals confronted by increasing insecurity, A understanding of how individuals experience the F of F processes exclusion. ¦> 1 L In-depth interviews conducted with about thirty confronted allowed people by precariousness to A "Exclusion reconstruct and analyze their spatial, professional T Assistance and social-familial trajectories. 1

; A served to this O : - fourth proposilion guide analysis. 1 r Swiss economic Organization generates insecurity N and poverty at the same time that it produces DESKILLING merchandise and wealth; the social Organization at the time that it grants autonomy same causes Fig. 1: Exclusion process: weakening of social fragility and dependence. Impoverishment results networks and deskilling the and from processes ofthe deskilling of labor the Processes d'exclusion: affaiblissement des reseaux de social correlated with the disaffiliation social and sociabilite et dequalification du travail economic functioning of urban societies. Ausgrenzungsprozess: Schwächung sozialer Netze und The that lead to be paths poverty can envisaged as Verlust von Arbeitskompetenz a conjunction of both the process of deskilling or maladjustment to the labor market resulting even- tually in the loss of one's job and income, and a process of disaffiliation. This leads to a weakening reveal that those facing increasing insecurity in of networks, whether they be familial or social, their conditions of existence experience not only a formal or informal, and finally, to a disintegration drop in Status and progressive marginalization, but of social bonds. also experience an identity crisis. Individuals in Intersecting two axes, an axis of Integration precarious situations find themselves stigmatized, through work and an axis of Integration through marginalized and discredited through their lack of social networks (Fig. 1), one can distinguish five employment, their recourse to social Services,orby "typical" situations, referring to as many degrees of reason of their non-traditional family Situation. integration/exclusion: Integration, individuation, Jobs, in turn, are factors of identity, permitting ac¬ precariousness, assislance and exclusion. An ana¬ cess to income, social recognition and Integration lysis of the stories recounted during the interviews in the city, even though their real integrative reveals these situations and the different types of capacity may be diminishing. individual trajectories leading to insecurity Faced with stigmatization, and given their own (Cunha, Leresche & Vez 1998). Contemporary norms and the dominant values concerning urban poverty appears to be linked, unquestion- employment, some people experience their profes¬ ably, to two ordere of change: first, transformations sional inactivity and the recourse to social Services in the slructure of labor and second, social and above all in terms of shame and guilt. The testi¬ cultural mutations, such as the weakening of the monies gathered nonetheless reveal distinct traditional family bond, the evolution of family methods for dealing with this Situation: in the ma- structures, and individualization whereby each in¬ jority of cases, these feelings push people into with- dividual alone is accountable for his own future. drawal, leading them to curb their social lives in A füll understanding of the mechanisms leading to order to avoid the disapproving eyes of others. In increasing precariousness also requires an analysis some cases, the individuals manage to resist the of life experiences, through Observation of aspira¬ effects of the loss of Status, preserving themselves tions, practices and the capacity to make plans for from a loss of identity through a rationalization of the future. Testimonies gathered during the study their experiences. 42 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft

Examples of the techniques of rationalization Social Policies : Integrate, Protect, Accompany emerge from the records ofthe interviews (Cunha, Objectives and Means Leresche & Vez 1998). For some, the loss of their job an to reinvest in their represents opportunity / Ensure families, often neglected due to the demands of a -*7 financial \Y- l IndependanceJ professional career. It appears that individuals with a superior level of training tend to turn to their Protect advantage a precarious Situation that they consider /integrate

1 \ to be transitory. They experience their Situation as Economic \ / Minimum >. I capital 1 /Minimum^, \ the opportunity to establish a new identity, and to f / weitere \ \ / I I \ [ payemem payement \ adopt a new lifestyle, whereas the more destitute / \ perralttlng l coverlng j \ / ' \ V Integration Ä. A living J encounter more difficulties in rearranging their / \«pensea/ identity and their lifestyles. For all, the restriction of their social lives and their v Poverty \ space is accompanied by an inability to imagine \ / Cultural / Relational \ / their future. Even if these individuals express a \ l capital i eepllel / / veritable desire to reestablish financial indepen- / Train, \ l Reinsertion / Reconstruct \ dence and to rediscover a useful role in the J \ city, requalify 1 l [ proJecU social they live from day to day, as public assistance is \ bonds J perceived to be insufficient to truly escape the vicious circle of insecurity. Accompany By reason of its characteristics, traditional social aid has its limits. Access to this aid is not a right, and aid is in the form of strictly economic assistance Fig. 2: Multiple instruments constructed around three measures, which do not include any real Steps that objectives would lead to the professional reinsertion and the Des instruments multiples construils autour de trois autonomy of the individuals concerned. Indeed, it objectifs fondamentaux is through recourse to social aid that individuals Flankierende Massnahmen zur Erreichung dreier find themselves recognized and designated as poor. grundlegender Zielsetzungen Those concerned perceive the recourse to social aid as a concrete expression of their downfall, of their slide into the universe of those receiving handouts. The individual who receives welfare assistance sees grated individuals, and an "outside", home to the himself labeled with an identity that was hitherto "excluded". Urban societies, then, are divided by a foreign to him (Autes 1992). symbolic line into those who have a place in society The multiple factors at play in the processes of and those who seek such a place. It is in urban disqualification and disaffiliation attest to the agglomerations that isolation and exclusion are feit existence of multiple life experiences. This thus most strongly. For some, the city encourages the confirms the necessity of envisaging personalized development of relationships, for those more actions as well as diverse and/or regional policies vulnerable to the dissolution of social bonds, the of reinsertion. city becomes a place of anonymity and solitude. The social Situation in Swiss cities does not seem as alarming as in neighboring countries where the 4 By Way of a Conclusion: social and spatial fractures are more visible. Urban Poverty, Exclusion and Public Policy However, Swiss economic and demographic developments call for greater Intervention and 4.1 New policy concerns regulation. Although there are social solidarity The city is the epicenter of poverty and of exclusion mechanisms that combine diverse instruments at (Donzelot & Estebe 1994). In Switzerland, cities the federal, cantonal and communal level these show the greatest increase in the number of job mechanisms no longer function efficiently against seekers and in the length of the period of un¬ the structural causes of the various forms of in¬ employment. It is also in the large cities that security and exclusion, or against their consequences. meeting the costs of living becomes more problem- The more general social security instruments were atic given declining purchasing power. Increasing not designed for and, therefore, do not adequately job insecurity is reflective of a heterogeneous take into consideration the structural transfor- society with a "top" and a "bottom", an "inside" mations in family and social structures and long- referring to the professionally and socially inte- term unemployment (Gilliand 1990). In addition, Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy Antonio de Cunha 43

economic recovery does not necessarily reintegrate sources. The latter are not limited to financial aid, those excluded into gainful employment, as can be but also include Jobs, social relations, and Symbols seen in other countries. of Status that open the door to independence and This poses a particular challenge to public policy autonomy. at a time in which the welfare State embraces the "lean management" model and public spending 4.2 The case for territorial social policy is being reduced. One might argue, however, Territorialization of such policy reflects two types that what is needed most is not an ultraminimal of reasoning (Uniopps 1993): First, public policy State and measures of austerity but rather a reorien- implies a localized Organization of interventions tation of social security Systems. This means to: aimed at different categories of the population, reaffirm the primacy of politics over spontaneous interventions which are elaborated at other economic movement.This implies to relegitimize decisional levels according to tested forms. Se¬ the role of the State, reestablish public Inter¬ cond, territorialization is a new approach to the vention morally and intellectually, management of populations, based on a general implement new transversal social policies transformation of social aid devices. In this con- focussed on financial aid, professional reinsertion text, cities and urban agglomerations have an and on social assistance, important role to play in the realm of public policy. establish and integrate national approaches The rationale for an Intervention at the level of to target groups with local approaches based on the urban authorities is based on several obser- activities and projects, vations: develop a national urban policy anchoring the The welfare State can no longer adequately deal fight against poverty in urban and metropolitan with all types of social dysfunction and rising areas with the mediation of the State. poverty. In urban agglomerations, social bonds are conju- Three complementary requirements can be con- gated with proximity; in order to be efficient, there ceived (Fig. 2): is a need for physical proximity between the a guaranteed minimum income which will insure public Service Operators, the providers of reinte¬ solvency and which will cover living cosls, gration mechanisms and the recipients of such an offer of training and professional reinsertion Services. that combines social action and economic Mobilizing the personal resources of individuals development (off-the-job training, training in in precarious situations can only be effective alternation, for example employment programs, if coupled with the resources of the local temporary placements, public works programs), environment. promotion of activities that could be transformed The urban agglomeration appears to be the geo¬ into permanent employment, individualized graphie scale best permitting local actors to form training credits, etc.), partnerships around plans for reinsertion or Joint development of integrative and projective, re- economic development. gionalized people and poverty-oriented policies to cope with the true extent, multiple faces of Directly linking the economic and social spheres, poverty and processes of impoverishment in however, and developing actions at the level of the cities and urban agglomerations. urban areas, is not without ambiguities: Neither the State nor local public administration These three types of social policy target also can impose on firms, whether it involves address: professional reinsertion, Organization or sharing economic capital by ensuring a certain degree of ofwork schedules. financial autonomy, The domains of professional reinsertion are cultural capital through preventative training or limited because of the mismatch between the requalification of individuals and supply of temporary measures for reinsertion social capital by reestablishing social bonds and permanent needs, and between the public through the affirmation of fundamental rights, policy reactions to economic fluetuations and based on the principle of the individual as aclor long-term structural change. in his plan for economic, professional or social Local solidarity cannot totally replace national reintegration. or cantonal solidarity; cities and agglomerations do not possess the human, technical or financial Urban poverty can be considered as a denial of resources necessary to ensure the regulatory role citizenship. Policies of reintegration specifically they are called on to play. concern access to new social rights and access to re¬ 44 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft 1

The reflections on an urban social policy under- tionnelles et developpement territorial. - In: Geo¬ score a decisive aspect in the debate over the "best graphica Helvetica 2:53-62. State". Local solidarity cannot entirely replace Cunhs, A., Vez, L, Marcel, J., Pedrazzini, Y., Gil- cantonal or national solidarity. One cannot exone- liard, P, Busset, Th., Leresche, J.Ph. & M. Bassand rate the central Services of the State from its (1995): Pauvrete urbaine et exclusion sociale: con¬ responsibilities for the social problems of urban ditions d'existence et vecus des populations ä fai- municipalities.The State must use its means to offer bles revenus, Rapport de recherche 125, IREC/ greater local benefits flexible, sufficient and EPFL, Lausanne. diversified enough to allow for multiple strategies Cunha, A., Leresche, J.-Ph. & I. Vez. (1998): La for reintegration and individualized assistance. pauvrete urbaine, Le lien et les lieux, Ed. Realites The prevention of poverty and exclusion also re- Sociales, Lausanne. quires the city to provide greater social regulation De Gaujelac, V. & I. Taboada Leonetti (1994): La and to develop its own policy.This Solution, too, has lutte des places. Insertion et desinsertion. Paris. its limits: lacking human and financial resources as Dickes, P. & J.-C. Ray (1990a): Mesurer la pauvrete well as adequate management structures, cities are ete la precarite par les seuils et les cumuls. Präsen¬ rarely in a position to take up the challenge. The tation et Validation de ces methodologies. - In: field is wide open, however, to reflection on Pauvretes et securite sociale. Ed. Realites sociales. comprehensive urban development and the articu- Lausanne: 137-167. lation of the role of different actors at different Dickes, P. (1990): Pauvrete et conditions d'existen¬ levels of Intervention. Urban governance and the ce theories, modeles et mesures. - In: Pauvretes et role of the central State are at the heart of the urban securite sociale. Ed. Realites sociales, Lausanne: development and poverty problems (Cunha, Le¬ 117-135. resche, Vez 1998).To address these adequately im¬ Dickes, P, Gailly, B., Hausman, P. & G. Schaber plies continued debate on the division of labor and (1984): Les desavantages de la pauvrete: definitions, sharing of responsibilities, the division and redis- mesure et realites en Europe. - In: Mondes en tribution of tax revenues through fiscal reforms and Developpement, no. 45:131-190. through decidedly social policies. Dickes, P. (1994): Ressources financieres, bien-etre subjectif et conditions d'existence. - In: Bouchay- er, F.: Trajectoires sociales et inegalites. Paris: Literature Cited 179-199. Autes, M. (1992):Travail social et pauvrete. Paris. Donzelot, J. & Ph. Estebe (1994): L'etat animateur. Bassand, M. (1997): Metropolisation et inegalites Essai sur la politique de la ville, Paris. sociales. Presses polytechniques et universitaires Farago, P. & P. Füglistaler (1992): Armut ver¬ romandes, Lausanne. hindern. Die Zürcher Armutsstudien: Ergebnisse Binder, J. & W. Ulrich (1992): La pauvrete dans le und sozialpolitische Vorschläge. Fürsorgedirektion, canton de Berne. Direction de l'hygiene publique Zürich. et des oeuvres sociales du canton de Berne. Flückiger, Y. (1996): La Situation des chömeurs en Bourdieu, P. (1987): Choses dites. Paris. fin de droit ä Geneve. Rapport d'activite 1995 de Castel, R. & J.-F Lae (1992): Le revenu minimum l'OCDE, Departement de l'economie publique, d'insertion. Une dette sociale. Paris. Geneve. Castel, R. (1991): «De l'indigence ä l'exclusion, la Füglistaler, P. & M. Hohl (1992): Armut und Ein¬ desaffiliation. Precarite du travail et vulnerabilite kommensschwäche im Kanton St. Gallen. Haupt, relationnelle.» - In: Face ä l'exclusion, le modele Bern. francais. Paris. Gilliand, P. (1990): Evolution, perspectives et pistes Castel, R. (1995) Les metamorphoses de la questi- de reflexions pour la Suisse. - In: Pauvretes at Se¬ on sociale: chronique du salariat. Paris. curite sociale, Realites sociales, Lausanne: 296-319. Castells, M. (1996) La societe en reseaux, L'ere de Hainard, F., Nolde, M., Memminger, G. & M. Mi- l'information. Paris. cheloni (1990): Avons-nous des pauvres? Enquete Clerc, D. (1993): La fabrique des exclus. - In: Le sur la precarite et la pauvrete dans le canton de temps des exclusions, Le Monde diplomatique, Neuchätel. Neuchätel. Maniere de voir 20, Novembre: 1416. Hauser, R. (1984) Some problems in defining a Corajoud, G. & G. Piotet (1994): La precarite des poverty line for comparative stuides. - In: Saprl- conditions de vie dans quatre communes vaudoises, lon, G., dir., Understanding poverty, franco Ange- Universite de Lausanne, Institut des sciences lico, Milano: 329-354. sociales et pedagogiques. Jolist, J.-P. (1992): Pauvrete dans le canton du Jura, Cunha, A. (1994): L'avenir de la Suisse urbaine: Service de l'aide sociale. Delemont. changement technologique, metropoles informa- Leu, R. E., Burri, S. T, Priester, T. (1997): Qualite Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy Antonio de Cunha 45

de vie et pauvrete en Suisse: apercu des principaux perte des Protections sociales en relation avec la resultats, FNRS, Berne. crise de PEtat-providence sont les differentes faces Liechti, A. & C. Knöpfel (1998): Les working poor de l'exclusion. La pauvrete urbaine apparait aussi en Suisse: ils ont pauvres et pourtant ils travaillent. comme un deni de citoyennete. L'article s'attache (Caritas), Lucerne. ä montrer l'interet d'une approche plurielle de la Lipietz, A. (1997): La societe en sablier, Le partage pauvrete urbaine. II rend egalement compte des du travail contre la dechirure sociale, La Dicou¬ principes organisateurs ä l'origine d'une recom- verte. Paris. position et d'une territorialisation des instruments Marazzi, C. (1986): La povertä in . Diparti- en matiere de politique sociale de la ville. mento delle opere sociali. Locarno. Messu, M. (1991): Les assistes sociaux, analyse Zusammenfassung: Städtische Armut in identitaire d'un groupe social. Toulouse. der Schweiz: Ausgrenzung und Planungspolitik Paugam, S. (1991): La disqualification sociale: essai Armut gibt es inmitten des Überflusses. Die sur la nouvelle pauvrete. Paris. Schwächung des Sozialgefüges ist besonders aus¬ Paugam, S. (1993): La societe francaise et ses pau¬ geprägt in den Städten: mangelnde Ausbildung, der vres, Paris. Verlust des sozialen und symbolischen Status, Paugam, S. (1996): L'exclusion, l'etat des savoirs, La Isolation und der Rückbau des Sozialstaates und Dicouverte. Paris. Verlust sozialer Sicherheit bilden verschiedene Perruchoud-Massi, M.-F. (1991): La pauvrete en Facetten der Ausgrenzung. Städtische Armut ent¬ , Departement des Affaires sociales. Etat du wickelt sich zum Verlust von Bürgerrechten. Dieser Valais. Aufsatz wendet einen pluralistischen Ansatz an, Racine, J.-B. (1994): La Suisse urbaine ä l'oree du um die grossstädtische Armut zu erfassen. Er stellt 3eme millenaire: risques et defis d'un changement ferner neue Organisationsformen und die Regiona- non programme. - In: Geographica Helvetica 2: lisierung planungspolitischer Instrumente als Lö¬ 47-52. sungsansätze zur Diskussion. Runciman, W. (1966): Relative deprivation and social justice. London. Sen, A. (1983): A Sociological Approch to the Measurement of Poverty. Oxford Economic Papers 37/ 4. Uniopps (1995): Accompagnement social et insertion. Paris: Syros. Veltz, P (1993): Logiques d'entreprise et terri- toires: les nouvelles regles du jeu, Les nouveaux espaces de l'entreprise. Paris: Datar.

Summary: Urban poverty in Switzerland: exclusion processes and public policy Poverty is lodged in the heart of abundance itself. The weakening of the social fabric is particularly apparent in cities: the deskilling of labor, the de- cline in social and symbolic Status, isolation, and the loss of social protection due to the crisis of the wel¬ fare State constitute different aspects of exclusion. Urban poverty also appears as a denial of citizen- ship. This article applies a pluralistic approach in studying urban poverty. It also suggests organizing principles as a basis for transforming and "territorial- izing" of public social policy instruments in the city.

Resume: Pauvrete urbaine en Suisse: exclusion et politiques publiques La pauvrete löge au coeur meme de l'abondance. Le processus de fragilisation du lien social se Prof. ass. Dr. Antonio de Cunha, Institut de Geographie, marque d'abord dans les villes: dequalification du Faculte des Lettres, Universite de Neuchätel, Espace travail, declassement social et symbolique,isolement, Louis Agassiz 1, CH-2000 Neuchätel. 46 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft 1