Patrick Utz
Job Title
PhD title: No return to the borders of the past? Cross-border nationalism and European integration in times of crises
Room number
1.06Street (Address)
27 George SquareCity (Address)
EdinburghPost code (Address)
EH8 9LDResearch interests
Research interests
Territorial politics, Party politics, Europeanization
Background
PhD Abstract
Relationships between national minorities and a neighbouring kin-state have traditionally been depicted as an irredentist threat to the integrity of the host-state by academics and policy makers. However, European integration has provided numerous ways of reshaping the links between kin-minorities and their kin-states. Functional integration between a minority’s kin-state and its host-state has facilitated interactions between the minority and its kin-state in economic, political and cultural terms. Yet, such functional integration across European state borders has only been possible because the location of borders has become undisputed. This poses a dilemma for political parties that claim to represent kin-minorities: on the one hand, functional integration allows for novel forms of rapprochement with the kin-state; on the other hand, the perpetuation of state borders precludes the political integration of the minority’s ‘homeland’ into the kin-state.
Patrick’s thesis looks at how kin-minority parties address this dilemma in the cases of South Tyrol (Italy) and Austria, and of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, respectively. This is done through a qualitative analysis of party manifestos, semi-structured interviews with party elites, and parliamentary debates. The main finding is that all kin-minority parties endorse functional integration with the kin-state at the expense of irredentist aspirations. This is unsurprising in the case of a priori pro-European parties such as the South Tyrolean People’s Party (SVP), or the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). However, this logic also holds true for previously Eurosceptic parties like the South Tyrolean Liberty Movement (S-TF) or Sinn Féin. Kin-minority parties’ endorsement for functional cross-border integration is further confirmed by the finding that their support for functional integration continues despite spill-backs of the integration project. This is evidenced by South Tyrolean parties’ rejection of border controls between Italy and Austria during the migration crisis of 2015/16; or by nationalist parties’ support for special arrangements for Northern Ireland post-Brexit.
This research is kindly co-financed by UACES & James Madison Charitable Trust.
Supervisors
Michael Keating & Nicola McEwen
Other research activities
Besides his PhD project, Patrick also works as a research fellow at the Centre on Constitutional Change.
Teaching
Office hours by appointment.
In previous semesters, Patrick taught on these courses:
PLIT08016 Introduction to British Politics
PLIT08015 British Politics - Beginning of the End
PLIT08004 Introduction to Politics and International Relations
PLIT08012 Politics in a Changing World: An Introduction for non-specialists
Publications
- The party politics of decentralization: the territorial dimension in Italian party agendas (book review): Regional & Federal Studies: 2020: 30 (4): 599-600
- Europeanizing the Party Politics of Minority - Kin-State Relations: Evidence from Northern Ireland and South Tyrol: Nationalism and Ethnic Politics: 2019: 25 (4): 363-382
- Die Grenzen des grenzenlosen Europas? Die Europäisierung der Autonomieforderungen der Südtiroler Volkspartei und der nordirischen Social Democratic and Labour Party im Vergleich: in Engl, Alice; Pallaver, Günther; Alber, Elisabeth (eds.): Politika - Das Südtiroler Jahrbuch für Politik/L’annuario altoatesino di politica: 2019: Bozen/Bolzano: Edition Raetia (The borders of a borderless Europe? The Europeanisation of the autonomy demands of the South Tyrolean People’s Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party)
- Europeanization and Minority Political Agency: Lessons from Central and Eastern Europe (book review): Nationalism and Ethnic Politics: 2019: 25 (2): 248–249
- Europe and Northern Ireland’s future (book review): Regional & Federal Studies: 2019: 29 (4): 555-556
Media and blogs
- H-Nationalism 30/11/2020: South Tyrol: Minority Identities beyond Linguistic Divisions (also available at the CCC Blog)
- EUreka! A blog on all things EU and the European Parliament elections 17/04/2019: Half in, half out? Sinn Féin’s “all-Ireland” strategy in the European Elections (also available at the CCC Blog)
- Der Standard online 15/11/2018: Brexit-Deal und Homo-Ehe: Die irische Grenze als gesellschaftliche Bruchlinie(Brexit deal & same sex marriage: the Irish border as a cultural dividing line)
- CCC Blog 16/10/2018: Bavaria's Regional Earthquake Causes Tremors in Berlin
- Rai Südtirol 28/06/2018: Zwei Jahre nach dem Brexit-Referendum (Two years after the Brexit referendum)
- UCL-The Constitutional Unit 15/05/2018: Federal reforms in Austria: is now the time to overcome gridlock?
- CCC Blog 24/04/2018: Austrian Federal Reform Stops Before It Starts
- CCC Blog 11/04/2018: How the EU has Changed Politics in Northern Ireland
- Der Standard online 11/04/2018: Nordirland: 45 Jahre EU-Mitgliedschaft, 20 Jahre Frieden, aber was nun? (see CCC Blog 'How the EU has Changed Politics in Northern Ireland')
- Der Standard online 27/12/2017: Doppelpass für Südtiroler: Fortschritt oder Rückschritt für Autonomie und Minderheitenschutz? (see CCC Blog 'Dual citizenship' for English version)
- CCC Blog 21/12/2017: Dual citizenship for Italy’s German minority: innovative multiculturalism or a threat to territorial autonomy?
- CCC Blog 26/10/2017: Referendums in Northern Italy: Electoral Test Run or Trigger for Constitutional Change?
- Huffington Post Germany 16/10/2017: 'Kurz' Sieg hat erneut gezeigt: Der Bruch mit Partei-Traditionen bringt Erfolg - doch kann so die Politik erneuert werden?' (Kurz' victory demonstrates again: Breaking with party traditions leads to success - but can this regenerate politics?)
- Der Standard online 24/07/2017: 'Dynamisch und innovativ? Sebastian Kurz und der Trend zur politischen "Bewegung"' (Dynamic and innovative? Sebastian Kurz and the trend towards political 'movements')
CV
Education
2014-2016: University of Vienna, Austria
MA Political Science (with distinction)
"Re-integrating Tyrol? Regionalist parties in South Tyrol and their responses to European Integration" (shortlisted as best master's thesis 2016/17 by the Austrian Political Science Association)
2010-2015: University of Vienna, Austria;
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
BA Romance studies (Spanish & Portuguese), (with distinction)
2010-2014: University of Vienna, Austria
BA Political Science (with distinction)
Experience
2015: Research assistant,
Department of Economic Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria
2014-2015: Tutor for scientific writing,
Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Austria
2011-2016: Assistant Floor Manager,
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF)
Works within
Staff Hours and Guidance
Office hours by appointment.