In the autonomous province of South Tyrol in Northern Italy, the ‘old’ German and Ladin-speaking minorities are protected by a comprehensive set of rights, while local policies regarding the inclusion and non-discrimination of people with migration background – the ‘new’ minorities – are only just being developed. With a growing number of migrants settling in the rural valleys of South Tyrol, the reluctance of local municipalities to proactively think about, engage with and act on this trend may have significant negative impacts for the inclusion of migrants in the local communities.
Drawing on an ongoing collaboration between the researcher and the Provincial Coordination Unit on Integration, this paper explores the status quo of municipal policies and initiatives regarding migrant integration in South Tyrol. It seeks to understand the municipalities’ and province’s strategies (or lack thereof) with regards to the integration of people with migrant background. Moreover, the paper assesses the ways in which the region’s tradition in protecting and promoting ‘old’ cultural and linguistic diversity may influence how strategies on the integration of new minorities are formulated and implemented – or not – by provincial and municipal policy makers. This interplay of ‘old’ and ‘new’ diversity in the drafting of integration policies provides insights into the struggles and opportunities that emerge when diverse minority groups meet.
The paper is based on an analysis of data from a questionnaire on municipal integration policies sent to all 116 municipalities of South Tyrol, which will be complemented by insights gained from semi-structured interviews conducted with staff at the Provincial Coordination Unit on Integration. Life-history interviews with people with migration background residing in a rural South Tyrolean municipality add a further perspective to this account on the challenges and tensions that often emerge in increasingly diverse societies.
