Minorities and Migration: (de)securitization dynamics in South Tyrol

In the past decade, South Tyrol, an Italian autonomous province with German and Ladin-speaking population and a sophisticated power-sharing system to protect their cultural features, has witnessed the arrival of increasing numbers of migrant from foreign countries, which today amount to more than 9% of the population. In addition, as result of the so called “refugee crisis,” thousands of asylum seekers have passed through South Tyrol and many remained in the Province. Situated at the interplay between the field of sub-state nationalism, migration and security studies, this paper analyzes processes of (de)securitization vis-à-vis migration in South Tyrol. Adopting the Copenhagen School’s understanding of securitization as a speech act in combination of a sociological variant that highlights the role of legal and policy practices, the paper uncovers to what extent, how and in what terms (de)securitization dynamics have unfolded in South Tyrol regarding the settlement of migrant communities and recent refugee flows. I use a qualitative methodology that looks at discourses and practices as emerged in party programs, political speeches, policy and legal documents, together with data from public opinion surveys, employed as proxy to measure public acceptance of securitizing acts. In this way the paper will offer a genealogy of (de)securitizing narratives and related measures and policy actions taken to manage migration and pursue the integration of the migrant population in the specific political and cultural South Tyrolean context. The analysis of the South Tyrol case will reveal the anxieties and problems of dealing with the management of migration at the local level in territory characterized by ‘old’ diversity and decentralized system of power.