Granting Austrian citizenship to German-speaking Italians would not be a victory for South Tyrol's separatists

Austria's new government has proposed to offer Austrian citizenship to German-speakers in the province of South Tyrol in Italy. Stephen J. Larin and Alice Engl argue that although the proposal has been welcomed by separatist parties in South Tyrol, it does not threaten Italy's territorial integrity, and it would not have happened without the close relationship between the Austrian ÖVP and the autonomist-but-not-separatist South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP)

Why Italy’s German-speakers overwhelmingly voted ‘Yes’

Italy’s constitutional referendum resulted in a strong No vote in most parts of the country. But as Stephen J. Larin and Marc Röggla highlight, this was not the case everywhere, with over 60 per cent of voters in Italy’s predominantly German-speaking province, South Tyrol, backing the proposed reform. They write that this was a victory for the province’s governing coalition, but that the failure of the referendum may benefit separatist opposition parties in the long term if it leads to an anti-EU government in Rome

South Tyrol’s Autonomy Convention is not a breakthrough for participatory democracy – but it shows how power-sharing can transform conflicts

The province of South Tyrol experienced violent unrest in the post-war period, before being granted autonomous status within Italy in 1972. As Stephen J. Larin and Marc Röggla note, the province is currently debating the revision of its 1972 agreement by holding an ‘Autonomy Convention’. They argue that although the ability of citizens to participate in this process has been more limited than originally envisaged, the convention is nevertheless evidence of the potential for power-sharing models to transform conflicts and ease tensions in disputed territories

Time to invite the ‘others’ to the table: a proposal to make South Tyrol more inclusive

South Tyrol, an autonomous and predominantly German-speaking province in northern Italy, is regarded as one of the most successful cases of ‘consociational’ democracy – a political system in which people deeply divided along ethnic, linguistic, or other lines share power. One of the rights that speakers of German, Italian and Ladin living in the province enjoy is proportional representation in the Provincial and municipal executives. Stephen J. Larin and Marc Röggla argue that it is now time to include ‘Others’, who do not wish to formally identify with any or just one of these language groups, in that proportionality rule. Taking this step would help shift the province from corporate consociationalism towards a more liberal model

Among Ghosts and Tigers: The Chinese in the White Terror

This paper explores the effects of Cossack warlordism on the Chinese community in the Far Eastern regions during the Russian Civil War. Leaders of the White movement targeted the Chinese diaspora, carrying out a series of thefts and diplomatic blunders which provoked a harsh response from the Chinese, from merchants to consular officials. This response was directly linked to existing geopolitical tensions surrounding the heavily-contested Sino-Russian border. It fed into the Chinese rhetoric of “national humiliation”, in which the Whites were seen as inheritors of tsarist arbitrariness and arrogance. Crucially, it was this nationalist discourse that drove the Chinese towards the Reds