Peter Haslinger bei der 32nd International Conference of Europeanists
Vortrag
National Anxieties in a Multinational Empire – Intersected Securitization of Minorities in Austria-Hungary (1867-1914)
Paper by Peter Haslinger
The late Habsburg Monarchy is a particularly telling example of how, in multinational empires, the dynamics of political competition can lead to the marginalization of entire groups—in this case, based on the criterion of language. The presentation will therefore first explain the constitutional and institutional nature of the Habsburg Empire as a multi-layered power structure that, because of its ambiguity, retained its basic features for over fifty years. It will also show, however, how this legal-institutional setting not only fostered security concerns over minorities at different levels of statehood, but also stimulated a vivid discussion over minority rights and the limits of minority empowerment. It will show how all these factors determined the development of anxiety and conflict on the imperial, state, as well as regional levels and how it also created complex spill-over effects across different institutional layers and the internal border between Austria and Hungary. As a consequence it will make clear why the minority question increasingly dominated central policy fields and stimulated debates about the nature of existing structures and possible alternatives about the very nature of the empire.
