Paradoxes of Ethnolinguistic Marginalization: Examining Minority Hierarchies and Exclusion in South Tyrol's Primary Schools

The paper focuses on a current debate about the planned separation of ethnolinguistically marginalized children at a primary school in South Tyrol. It addresses the paradox of regional minorities, who have a legitimate place in nation-states and, by invoking their minority status, exclude other minorities. We outline the hierarchy of minority rights (Thoma 2022) based on articles from German- and Italian-language newspapers, examine phenomena of this hierarchy in the field through two ethnographic projects, and explore possibilities for discourse-shifting cooperation between researchers and actors in the field.