Abstract
SITUATED AT THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE FIELD OF ETHNIC POLITICS, MIGRATION AND SECURITY STUDIES, THIS ARTICLE ANALYZES PROCESSES OF SECURITIZATION IN SOUTH TYROL, AN ITALIAN PROVINCE WITH GERMAN AND LADIN-SPEAKING POPULATIONS AND A SOPHISTICATED CONSOCIATIONAL SYSTEM TO PROTECT THEIR CULTURAL FEATURES. SINCE THE 1990S, THE PROVINCE WITNESSED THE ARRIVAL OF MANY MIGRANTS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES. SCHOLARSHIP ON SECURITIZATION HAS TENDED TO REPRODUCE KYMLICKA’S DYCHOTOMY BETWEEN ETHNIC/IMMIGRANT GROUPS AND NATIONAL MINORITIES; WHEREAS MANY SCHOLARS FOCUS ON THE SECURITIZATION OF MIGRANTS AND MIGRATION, OTHER RESEARCH APPLIES THE CONCEPT TO THE POLITICS OF ETHNO-NATIONALISM. DEPARTING FROM THIS DICHOTOMY, I CONSIDER CULTURAL DIVERSITY ITSELF, RATHER THAN A SPECIFIC COMMUNITY, AS THE TARGET OF SECURITIZING MOVES. WITH THIS FRAMEWORK, THE ARTICLE ANALYZES TO WHAT EXTENT, HOW AND ON WHAT TERMS SECURITIZATION DYNAMICS HAVE UNFOLDED IN SOUTH TYROL VIS-À-VIS THE PRESENCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND DIVERSE CULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE PROVINCE, WHETHER HISTORICALLY ROOTED OR DERIVING FROM RECENT MIGRATORY FLOWS. TO CONDUCT THE ANALYSIS, I ADOPT THE COPENHAGEN SCHOOL’S UNDERSTANDING OF SECURITIZATION AS A SPEECH ACT. I USE A QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY FOCUSED ON ANALYZING DISCOURSES THAT EMERGED IN PARTY PROGRAMS AND POLITICAL SPEECHES. IN THIS WAY, THE ARTICLE AIMS TO BRING TO LIGHT HOW DIFFERENT FEATURES OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY BECOME TARGETS OF SECURITIZING MOVES AND HOW DISTINGUISHED PROCESSES OF SECURITIZATION INTERACT OVER TIME.