National Identity between Assimilation and Autonomy in Austria and South Tyrol in the Mirror of the Census
National Identity between Assimilation and Autonomy in Austria and South Tyrol in the Mirror of the Census

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on the development of ethnic groups in two Central-European regions, Carinthia and South Tyrol, in the 20th century. In Carinthia the number of Slovene-speaking inhabitants decreased continuously and there were huge disputes about bilingual town signs. During fascism there were attempts to “italianize” the region of South Tyrol by settling Italians and oppressing the German language. After World War II the mainly German speaking region became an autonomous province within the Italian state. In all these conflicts on language and ethnicity the census played an important role by stating the roles of majority and minority. But the diachronic comparability of the decennial census is difficult due to changing categories of identifying ethnicity or the use of language. Furthermore often members of the minority refused to declare these categories in censuses because they were critical to the use of the data by authorities. So the census is not only a mirror of social and political development but itself serves as a means of identity politics.

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