Abstract
This paper draws from critical sociolinguistic and educational research to highlight the connection between language and structural violence, focusing on the case of the South Tyrolean school system. Established by the Province’s Statute of Autonomy (1972) and based on a mother tongue principle, the system consists of three tracks, corresponding to the three officially recognized linguistic groups – Italian, German, and Ladin. While historically designed to protect minority language rights, this structure no longer reflects the reality of todays’ superdiverse society and reproduces forms of inequality. These surface most prominently in the experiences of individuals who fall outside the linguistic categorization, as in the case of migration trajectories. The language-based separation not only restricts socialization across groups but also reinforces classed and racialized boundaries, undermining possibilities for equal participation. In this context, German functions as a prestige language, tightly linked to social status and possibilities for upward mobility. Access to German-medium schooling becomes a key mechanism through which opportunities are distributed, reproduced, or denied. Drawing on ethnographic data collected in South Tyrol, we will exemplify how language educational policy generates processes of minoritization and marginalization, focusing on the experiences of children and families navigating the school system.