Values and Identities in Switzerland Regional Disparities and Socio-economic Cleavages

Abstract

This paper interprets empirical data, measuring the socio- economic cleavages among the Swiss regions, feelings of deprivation, patterns of spatial identification and values underlying referenda behaviour in Switzerland. The results show no empirical evidence to support the thesis arguing that location in peripheral regions increases people's feelings of deprivation. The thesis that lower strata are more alienated than higher strata, irrespective of the region, is, however, supported by the data. The findings on patterns of identification are divergent: most people living in alpine peripheries are firmly rooted in their local communities; whereas lowland regions and agglomerations show higher degrees of individualistic orientations. The findings provide evidence that: (a) Swiss culture is not monolithic but shaped by industrial, post-industrial and even pre-industrial values (particularly in the alpine periphery)—referenda behaviour reveals value differences along the lines between hinterlands and centres; and (b) value changes in Switzerland occur gradually and not in a disruptive manner.