Paper short abstract:

Municipal mergers are often experienced as drastic and material alterations of existing ways of being. The political narratives that happen around municipal mergers often mirror discussions around European integration and EU-skepticism, despite happening at very different 'scales'.

Paper long abstract:

Since the 1990s, Switzerland has seen a significant reduction of municipalities through municipal mergers and governmental reforms. For those living in affected territories, mergers are experienced as tangible and material alterations of existing ways of being. The narratives and discourses on which political actors draw within the context of municipal mergers in central Switzerland often mirror narratives on Swiss-European relations.

I argue that, to better understand the reservations towards EU-integration experienced by many people, researchers would do well to ground their analysis in the everyday. Once the material, consequences of a municipal merger are laid out, it becomes clear that discussions around identity and belonging are connected to tangible, quotidian factors of life.

In my presentation, I want to highlight how material consequences have shaped political discourse in one merged municipality in central Switzerland, and then point to lessons and similarities we can observe in political discourses at other 'scales'.