ABSTRACT
The present chapter deals with the multicultural celebration La Grande Table (the big table), organized in a small town in Switzerland in order to ‘integrate’ foreigners by sharing food at the same table and hence favouring mutual acceptance. Oscillating between exoticism and folklore, the event tends at first sight to essentialize cultural features, following the paternalistic approach of the organizers. However, we argue that the actors’ appropriation and redefinition of the public space, through the performance of multiple belongings, can be read as a form of emancipation and community building at the local scale under the post-political condition.
