Bordering and boundary-making in child placement decisions in Switzerland, 1960 to 1980
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02.07.2024
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06 - Presentation
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Abstract
State actors dispose of various (legal) measures to deal with persons they consider to be endangered or dangerous. During the 20th century, in Switzerland and many other states, children who were seen to be “at risk” or “a risk” for different reasons were placed in foster families or homes. If the parents and their children were non-nationals, the responsible authorities could also opt for their deportation. Our contribution investigates this crossroad of family and migration policies: We are interested in the norms and arguments based on which the responsible state authorities took decisions whether to withdraw parental authority or custody (based on civil law) and/or to deport family members (based on migration law) in Switzerland between 1960 and 1980.
Mobilizing a socio-legal perspective and based on historical archival research, we investigate how boundary-making and bordering was implemented by different state actors such as guardianship, welfare and migration authorities. We show how the intersection of formal and social norms related to the “proper” and “good” behaviour of mothers, fathers and children resulted in authorities deciding to place children and/or to deport families. These interrelated processes of boundary-making and bordering (Fischer, Achermann, Dahinden 2020) were informed by intersecting gendered, racialized, and classed ideas of “good”, “failed” or “anti-“ citizens (Anderson 2013; Inda and Dowing 2013; Khosravi 2009). Finally, the analysis sheds light on the powerful consequences such bordering based on non-normativity entailed for the families concerned.
Keywords
Child placements, Borders and Boundaries, Socio-legal perspective
Event
2024 IMISCOE Annual Conference
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02.07.2024
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05.07.2024
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English
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Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
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No peer review
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Citation
Ducommun, M., & Achermann, C. (2024, July 2). Bordering and boundary-making in child placement decisions in Switzerland, 1960 to 1980. 2024 IMISCOE Annual Conference. https://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/52676