South Tyrol, which is situated on the border between Austria and Italy, has been considered a 'peace model' by many nation-states since the creation of the province's autonomy statutes. The objective of these statutes was to allow for minority protection of the German- and Ladin-speaking communities while also permitting Austria to be the 'protector' of South Tyrol even though the province is situated in Italy. Another bi-product of these statutes was the creation of the 'separate but equal' education system, which allowed the German-, Italian- and Ladin-speaking communities to have individual schools in order to protect their culture and language identity. In the past several decades, there has been an increase in 'mixed' marriages with members of differing language groups producing bilingual children. Additionally, civil service positions now require that all applicants have a mandatory comprehension of the L2, or in some cases L3, in order to apply for certain posts. As the education system tries to adjust to local concerns regarding the insufficient teaching of the L2 in monolingual education, the concept of South Tyrol as a 'peace model' is brought into question. In this thesis, I examine how the South Tyrolean school system is reflective of society at large as its divided education mirrors the current fissures existent amongst the language communities. With parents looking for alternative measures to instruct their children in the L2, some residents would prefer a bilingual schooling option to encourage inter-group assimilation. Furthermore, I discuss, outside of education, external social factors in the region which impact L2 learning creating language learning 'blocks' and 'victim' versus 'conqueror' mentalities. The objective of this research is to try and understand how South Tyrol continues to be in transition as the province adjusts to more bilingualism despite the historical need to preserve the language minorities.

Since the end of the Second World War, scholars have attempted to understand why Fascist Italy chose to adopt the racial laws in 1938. For sixteen years, Benito Mussolini rejected the existence of antisemitism in Italy, leading many to assert that the antisemitic program was a foreign import. The rise of Nazi Germany, expansion of Fascist Italy's colonial empire, and the desire to create the new fascist man are generally believed to be the main factors that pushed Italian fascism towards a racial program. Yet these factors do not fully explain the radical shift in Fascist Italy's approach to its Jewish minority. This dissertation argues that the turn towards official racism should also take into consideration the development of fascism's other long-standing minority program. Beginning in 1923, the Fascist government instituted policies to "Italianize" the Germanic and Slavic ethno-linguistic minority communities of South Tyrol (Venezia Tridentina) and the Adriatic (Venezia Giulia), known as the allogeni. To "make Italians" of the allogeni the Fascist government stripped them of their linguistic, cultural and political rights, and attempted to absorb them into the national community. However, by the end of the 1920s, Fascist officials began to question whether the assimilation of these ethno-linguistic Others was sufficient or even desirable. I argue that the failures of Italianization led to the delegitimization of assimilation - the foundation upon which Jewish inclusion had been built. The decline of assimilation was an important precursor to the rise of fascism's racial program. This dissertation posits that the borderland Italianization program and racial laws were different phases of the Fascist "redemptive struggle," aimed at redeeming the Italian people and nation through their unification in both being and spirit. The borderland Italianization programs also established some of the methods and procedures that would be adopted for the implementation of the racial laws.

In the global context, where many minority languages are threatened by globalization and socio-political pressures, the preservation of these languages is crucial for maintaining cultural diversity and heritage. This research explores the intricate relationship between the Ladin language and the Ladin community in Val Gardena, highlighting their inseparability. Initially perceived as intertwined yet distinct entities, it became evident through this study that the language and community are essentially one, shaped significantly by geographical isolation not only from other Ladin-speaking villages but also from neighbouring valleys. This isolation has fostered unique perceptions of identity and belonging within the community.This research centers on a case study examining the Ladin community in Val Gardena. Local voluntary organisations are key in preserving the Ladin language. These organizations, which include cultural associations and educational institutions, play a great role in fostering a sense of community and belonging among Ladin speakers. This approach to language preservation emphasizes the importance of local initiatives in countering the forces of globalization and standardization, demonstrating the Ladin community's response to these challenges.The objectives of the research constituted of understanding the local context of Ladinia and the peculiarities of the linguistic policies in the area and understanding how the language is being preserved and promoted locally and how the local voluntary organisations are impacting this reality. The outcome of the research contains patterns identified in the local communities' way of life and how their communal voluntary groups and associations greatly impacted the situation in which Ladin among other endangered languages is found.

This study investigates host community attitudes towards tourism in South Tyrol’s Puster Valley in Italy along with predispositions against the emerging phenomenon of overtourism and explores the factors influencing its formations, as similar research in the same European context with a more mature tourism industry is still underdeveloped. Applying quantitative methods, data was collected through an online survey between May and June 2021. A total of 17 attitude statements were analyzed using IBM’s SPSS and the results indicate that tourism impacts in the valley are perceived evenly throughout the whole community while it was proven with Social Exchange Theory that people involved within the tourism industry are less inclined to perceive negative impacts. Choosing the Pragser Wildsee as a case, the analysis further reveals that overtourism is not only affecting residents in its vicinity put has more far-reaching consequences. Even the results not being very surprising, the study is confirming tourism-related issues and suggests more need in investigating resident attitudes in similar environments.

South Tyrol is an autonomous province, which belongs to the Italian Republic. Its territory is specific for several reasons. This is caused by the historical development and also by the fact that South Tyrol is a crossroad where the Germanic culture and language meets the Romanesque one. The citizens are usually bilingual. The language issue offers a large number of topics, which can be further examined. This thesis is focused on language use in the public sector nowadays. First, the historical context of the South Tyrolean question will be explained with focus on language because the current state results from past events. Second, I will explore three following areas of the public sector: communication with public administration, politicians and at school. The main emphasis will be again placed on language. Next, I will deal with the language model of South Tyrol. My goal is to try to answer this question: Is the described model functional, stable and possibly transferable?

S’inscrivant dans une réflexion sociolinguistique et didactique, cette thèse propose de sonder les appropriations langagières et les imaginaires linguistiques de collégien-ne-s de la ville de Bozen-Bolzano dans le Sud- Tyrol/Haut-Adige. Dans cette Province italienne officiellement multilingue qui bénéficie d’un Statut de protection de la minorité germanophone, le vivre-ensemble est fortement marqué par la séparation des écoles sur une base ethnolinguistique. La présence relativement récente de migrants transnationaux invite à porter un regard renouvelé sur les dynamiques d’identification entre « autochtones » et « allochtones » et, plus particulièrement, à en considérer les implications au niveau éducatif. En donnant des appareils photos jetables à des collégien-nes de la ville de Bozen-Bolzano avec la mission de photographier « les langues du quartier » pour en faire une exposition, il s’agit d’interroger les façons dont, dans une ville qui semble incarner une certaine hybridité, des jeunes interprètent la pluralité qui les environne. / This thesis proposes to investigate the linguistic appropriations and the conceptualizations of language of secondary school students in the town of Bozen-Bolzano in South Tyrol / Alto Adige, as a sociolinguistic and didactic reflection. In this officially multilingual Italian province, which enjoys a status of protection of the German-speaking minority, living together is strongly marked by the separation of schools on an ethnolinguistic basis. The relatively recent presence of transnational migrants calls for a renewed look at the dynamics of identification between "indigenous" and "non-indigeneous" and, more particularly, its implications for education. By giving disposable cameras to secondary school students in the town of Bozen-Bolzano, a city that seems to embody a certain hybridism, with the mission of photographing "the languages of the neighborhood" to create an exhibition, the goal is to investigate the ways young people interpret the plurality that surrounds them.

This thesis investigates the relationship of regional food products in the tourist home country with destination marketing and management at the example of South Tyrol. South Tyrol was chosen as research area, because the 2 sectors have, on their own, a big standing in the region as well as a cooperate in many different ways. This has led to a symbiosis inside and outside the destination, making it an interesting area to research. While the interplay of the culinary assets of a destination with tourism within the destination is increasingly recognized, developed and used by researchers, planners, companies and authorities, the possible relationship of these sectors outside the destination remains an under-researched area. As Alderighi et al. (2016) found out in a study, an (empirical) connection between availability of local specialities in the tourist home (markets) and the intention of (re-)visit the place is evident. Therefore, this thesis uncovers different tools and mechanisms in (destination) marketing and management for the incorporation of regional food products in the tourist home country. Additionally, experts from the sectors of food and tourism, DMO, will share their considerations and limitations. Theory and practice will be opposed, where as the concepts of “region branding” and “sensory destination marketing” will be elaborated.