Homestay Acccomodation in Switzerland (2022/23)
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, people in Switzerland have generously offered private accommodation to refugees from Ukraine. What does this support look like once the refugees arrive, and can it promote integration? What does it mean for society, for those being taken in and for those taking them in, when care work is carried out in private homes? Civic engagement is a identity-forming component in Switzerland and promotes social cohesion. How does this level of engagement compare internationally?
In a project by HSLU and BFH, with support from the Swiss Refugee Council and Migros Culture Percentage, we have examined these questions and placed them within the context of the growing international research on homestay accommodation:
Host families provide vital support to refugees as they settle in and promote their integration (see interim and final reports on the right). Private accommodation can be a sustainable solution provided there is a certain degree of formalisation and sufficient support in place.
In an article for "Frontiers in Sociology", we argue that hosts are doing care work, as defined by Joan Tronto, when they take in refugees. In practical terms, this involves a great deal of planning, coordination and organisation on the part of the host families, which can place a considerable mental load on them. Many of these tasks, particularly at the outset, were actually the responsibility of the authorities. Private accommodation can therefore be seen as a civil society activity within the private sphere that supports state capacities in the field of migration policy. Refugees, too, perform care work – or, for various reasons, refuse to do so when it is offered to them. These negotiations between hosts and those being hosted can lead to conflicts and are embedded in power relations between the host society and the refugees.
In a comparative piece published in "Die Soziale Welt" ((link)) between Switzerland and Poland – two countries with strong but different civil society traditions – we show that broad social mobilisation shifted the boundaries and made Ukraine part of the ‘we’ – supported by spontaneous and autonomous organisation in Poland, whilst in Switzerland this was accompanied by criticism of the ‘downloading’ of state responsibilities.
Our project forms part of international research on homestay accommodation; see www.spgi.unipd.it/homestay-conference
At the BFH, research is continuing as part of NFP 81 Building Culture: “Baukultur in the context of displacement: new paths for sustainable accommodation"