210117 SE M6: Österreichische Politik (2018W)

South Tyrol more than apples and cows. This slogan from a travel book (JOSEF) reminds us to see the province south of the Alps not only as a picturesque tourism destination, but to scrutinize the complexity and multilayered interconnections between history, geography and geopolitical implications, minority protection and current challenges resulting from globalization.
This seminar takes a political-institutional approach and discusses first the legal framework, and in particular, the Autonomy Statute: This constitutional backbone of South Tyrol protects the German-speaking and Ladin minority, regulates the living together of the three language groups and defines the status of the autonomous province within the Italian state. Second, the seminar sheds light on the political system in place as well as the political parties both dominating the discourse as well as governing the province. Finally, we discuss the relations between South Tyrol and Austria.
This seminar enhances the understanding of issues currently discussed in South Tyrol, and between Austria and Italy, such as the Doppelpass (a proposal for granting the Austrian citizenship to South Tyroleans) or the ongoing migration and refugee crisis and its connections with the Brenner border.
This seminar is characterized by its comparative approach and its reflections based on a challenging and contested policy field, such as migration. South Tyrol is first used as point of departure from where we explore in a comparative way similarities and differences between South Tyrol as an autonomous province and ordinary regions in Italy and Bundesländer in Austria. Secondly, we depart from South Tyrol and discuss challenges faced by many territories in Europe, such as claims for secession and nation-state formation, migration and demographic changes, but also a changing party systems with its implications for party politics.