How far can the state go?

How far can the state go?

Duration

2 lessons (90 min.)

Level

Grades 9–12

Cost

voluntary contribution

Participants

1 class

Devices

Laptop or smartphone

Flyer

Flyer for printing (DE)

Why?

  • A painful chapter in recent Swiss history:
  • Until the 1980s, 'social organisations' removed children from their families, placing them in homes and foster families. The poor and marginalised were institutionalised. Single mothers were pressured into giving up their children for adoption.
  • Many of these people were victims of abuse, mistreatment and economic exploitation. Young people placed in care had almost no access to education, which affected their entire working lives. The consequences persist to this day.
  • At savoir public, we see that students regularly engage with this history — which is often also their own family history — in their final theses. This is where our school workshops come in.
  • How far can the state go? How can we ensure that people affected today by social welfare, child and adult protection, or migration and asylum measures do not suffer new injustices for which authorities and policymakers bear responsibility?
  • In Switzerland during the 20th century, several hundred thousand people were affected by coercive care measures and out-of-home placements.
  • For over ten years, this history has been the subject of active research and remembrance. In 2017, the Federal Council commissioned the Swiss National Science Foundation to launch a research programme. Around 150 researchers studied the characteristics, mechanisms and effects of welfare policy and practice. Some of them are available on savoir public to answer questions.

    • Learning objectives

    • Students gain a deeper understanding of welfare and coercion in Switzerland.
    • They feel empowered to ask their own critical questions.
    • They become researchers of their own family histories
    • They can obtain reliable answers via savoir public.

    Notes

    • Dr Urs Hafner, author of numerous publications on topics including children in care and psychiatry, and member of the completed National Research Programme 'Welfare and Coercion' (NRP 76), introduces the topic and supports the development of questions.
    • The workshop is made possible by 'remembering for tomorrow': a programme to communicate the history of coercive care measures and out-of-home placements.
    How far can the state go? How far can the state go?

    Programme

    Time

    Content

    Format

    10' Introduction to savoir public and workshop overview Plenary
    20' Introduction to 'welfare and coercion' by Dr Urs Hafner Group work
    10' Collecting all questions Group work
    5' Transforming closed into open questions Group work
    15' Selecting imaginative and critical questions Group work
    20' Submitting questions to Dr Urs Hafner and on savoir public Individual / Group
    10' Feedback round Plenary
    14 days Answer from a researcher on savoir public savoir public

    Interested? We come to you.

    corinna.virchow@savoirpublic.ch | +41 61 421 21 82

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