Value Change in Switzerland

Values form fundamental principles that help orient individuals in their daily life, and as such are rather stable across time. Changes in the political, economic, and social environment, as those experienced by Switzerland in the last two decades, may affect these value priorities through generational change and individual reorientations. The present book documents how values have changed over the last twenty years in Switzerland as it navigated in the rough waters of an increasingly globalized environment and a changing international political context. The contributions show how Swiss citizens position themselves in their social relations, including the large share of foreigners among the residents in the Alpine republic. In particular, the book highlights how religious values have changed in their meanings. Contributions to this volume also show the consequences of value change in the social and political sphere. Values influence the citizens' views on European integration, their disposition to provide volunteer work, their electoral choices, etc. The volume thus offers a detailed view on how values have changed in Switzerland and how these changes affected the social and political sphere.

This fascinating book examines the cultural changes that are reshaping Switzerland—a society that illustrates the effects of high levels of prosperity and globalization. It assesses changing mass values in Switzerland from 1989 to 2007, analyzing data from successive waves of the Swiss component of the World Values Survey. The editors, Simon Hug and Hanspeter Kriesi, have assembled a talented group of young Swiss social scientists who have insightfully analyzed changes in the political and cultural values of the Swiss public, and the origins and implications of these changes.

Hanspeter Kriesi is Director of the Center for Comparative and International Studies, University of Zurich. Simon Hug is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Université de Genève.