PEOPLESophia Schönthaler

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Sophia Schönthaler

Post-Doc-Researcher
Center for Migration and Societal Change

Post-Doc-Researcher
Corporate Governance

T +39 0471 055 165

sophia.schoenthaler@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2096-7097

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About

Sophia Schönthaler is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Migration and Societal Change, where her work focuses on the political participation of women from minority backgrounds, with a special emphasis on intersectionality as a theoretical and methodological framework. She also examines processes of racialization and the discourse of political parties around migration, with a particular focus on South Tyrol. In addition to her research, she serves as the administrator of the Eurac Research Ethics Review Board and is a member of the Corporate Governance and Culture Unit at Eurac Research. She holds a PhD in International Law (University of Graz 2025) and a Master’s degree in International Relations (University of Bologna 2020), as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and in Cultural and Social Anthropology (University of Vienna 2018).

Scientific Publications

Journal article2026

What Does Multilingual Research Show Us About Research Ethics? Examples and Challenges From the Field

Schönthaler S, Leone‐Pizzighella A, Mitterhofer J

Johanna Mitterhofer, Sophia Schönthaler

Project: Stances Toward Education in Multilingual Contexts

Ethics review boards (ERBs) often clash with the emergent, iterative, and co‐constructed nature of critical and constructivist research. Conversely, these approaches also challenge ERBs, particularly around the role of language in informed consent, knowledge co‐construction, and dissemination. Multilingual research makes these tensions especially visible by foregrounding how language shapes research processes. This article examines the overlooked ethical dimensions of multilingual research, especially in relation to institutional ethics review. Drawing on our multilingual work with marginalized communities, we show how language mediates critical aspects of research practice: from obtaining consent and navigating gatekeeping to co‐constructing knowledge. We pursue three aims: (a) reflect on how language mediates ethics approval in critical and constructivist inquiry; (b) explore how sensibility toward language fosters epistemic justice, cultural sensitivity, and methodological appropriateness; and (c) raise awareness of the role of language in ethics procedures, research relationships, and definitions of data. We illustrate these aims with fieldwork examples highlighting the challenges of building trust under restrictive ethics protocols; the need for nuanced linguistic practices in contexts of inequality and underrepresentation; and the use of arts‐based methods as an alternative to language‐based approaches. The article concludes with examples from the formation of our multilingual institute’s ERB and recommendations for other boards.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.17645/si.10805

Journal article2025

The EU National Roma Inclusion Strategy: A Window of Opportunity for Romani Women in Italy?

Schönthaler S

Sophia Schönthaler

Project: Political and Socioeconomic Participation of Women with a Minority Background

Policies are essential to improving the political engagement of marginalised communities, particularly minority women. This article examines the EU Roma strategy framework for equality, inclusion, and participation in Italy, focusing on its impact on Romani women and their perspectives. This article draws on legal documents, reports, declarations from Romani associations, and ten interviews with experts and politically engaged Romani women. The study employs political opportunity theory and political intersectionality to examine the extent to which the EU National Roma Inclusion Strategy serves as a “window of opportunity” for Romani women in Italy. First, the paper examines the newly-implemented EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion, and participation 2021–2030, focusing on the extent to which Romani women are considered. Second, the research examines the current political opportunities available to Romani women and explores the perceptions of these chances among politically-engaged Romani women. The findings indicate that although the National Roma Inclusion Strategy acknowledges the presence of Romani women, the availability of political opportunities for them remains scarce. Consequently, Romani women regard the opportunities the National Roma Inclusion Strategy provides as inadequate.

DOI

DOI: 10.53779/SOSC1903

Journal article2024

Selective Inclusion? Insights Into Political Parties' Recruitment of Immigrant Background Candidates in Bolzano

Zogu Z, Schönthaler S

Sophia Schönthaler

Project: Migration and Integration in South Tyrol

Political parties can be crucial gatekeepers to the political participation of immigrants. This article analyzes the political selection strategies of political parties at the local level. The case study focuses on the multi‐ethnic city of Bolzano in Northern Italy, which is home to a significant migrant population as well as three autochthonous language groups: Italian, German, and Ladin. First, the article gives an overview of the political lists presented at the last local elections in 2020. Second, it discusses party strategies to recruit candidates with an immigration background. The presented insights are drawn from seven “elite” interviews (i.e., with high‐ranking party representatives). Overall, the findings indicate that diversity stemming from migration does not have a significant impact on the recruitment strategies of the province’s political parties’: Despite electoral lists containing an increasing number of immigrants, who have migrated to South Tyrol since the 1990s, neither newer nor traditional parties adopt significant strategies to recruit candidates with an immigration background. Overall, the diversity on political lists mostly reflects the existing language cleavages of the autochthonous population, while diversity stemming from immigration is still largely overlooked. However, the results also show that while neither of the parties is fully inclusive or exclusive in their selection methods, we identify a tendency toward selective inclusiveness of certain immigrant groups.

This article is part of the issue “The Political Representation and Participation of Migrants” edited by
Sergiu Gherghina (University of Glasgow) and Sorina Soare (University of Florence), fully open access at
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.i354

DOI Source

DOI: 10.17645/pag.7453

Internet2024

Selektiv-inklusiv? Die Repräsentation von Kandidierenden mit Migrationshintergrund in politischen Parteien in Südtirol

Schönthaler S, Zogu G

Sophia Schönthaler

In einer Welt, die von einer immer größer werden gesellschaftlichen Vielfalt definiert wird, kann die Rolle politischer Parteien als Türöffner für die politische Teilhabe nicht unterschätzt werden. Die Dynamik der Migration kompliziert diese Situation weiter und kann die Strategien beeinflussen, die von politischen Parteien auf lokaler Ebene angewendet werden, um die Diversität der Gesellschaft auch auf politischen Listen und somit in den Institutionen, in welchen politische Entscheidungen getroffen werden, abzubilden. Dieser Artikel taucht ein in die nuancierte politische Landschaft von Bozen, in der, neben den drei autochthonen Sprachgruppen - Italienisch, Deutsch und Ladinisch - eine bedeutende Migrantenbevölkerung existiert.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.57708/bf1dbbw7oqesuaztsfpk0wa

Internet2022

Der Ukrainekrieg und die Kirchen

Schönthaler S

Sophia Schönthaler

Mit Russland und der Ukraine stehen sich in diesem Krieg zwei orthodoxe Länder gegenüber. Der Krieg hat die Spaltung in der orthodoxen Welt weiter vertieft. Im Interview mit Sophia Schönthaler schildert Dr. Kristina Stoeckl die Rolle der Kirche in der Ukraine und die Auswirkungen der Invasion Russlands auf die orthodoxe Welt.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.57708/B120347077

Internet2021

Pandora's Box: The Roma minority and Covid-19

Schönthaler S

Sophia Schönthaler

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the threat of discrimination and the ongoing issue of the lack of protection towards marginalised groups.

The Roma, the largest minority group in Europe, are exposed to the virus and the health, economic and social risks more than other groups of society. Those risks are connected to the toxic mix of persistent structural discrimination and the economic, social and health related consequences of the ongoing pandemic. In this context, local individuals have emerged as crucial in managing the crises faced by this minority group.

DOI Source

DOI: 10.57708/B26644693

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Journal article2024

Selective Inclusion? Insights Into Political Parties' Recruitment of Immigrant Background Candidates in Bolzano

Zogu Z, Schönthaler S

Sophia Schönthaler

Project: Migration and Integration in South Tyrol

DOI Source

DOI: 10.17645/pag.7453

Sophia Schönthaler

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Scientific Publications

What Does Multilingual Research Show Us About Research Ethics? Examples and Challenges From the Field

The EU National Roma Inclusion Strategy: A Window of Opportunity for Romani Women in Italy?

Selective Inclusion? Insights Into Political Parties' Recruitment of Immigrant Background Candidates in Bolzano

Selektiv-inklusiv? Die Repräsentation von Kandidierenden mit Migrationshintergrund in politischen Parteien in Südtirol

Der Ukrainekrieg und die Kirchen

Pandora's Box: The Roma minority and Covid-19

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Scientific Publications

What Does Multilingual Research Show Us About Research Ethics? Examples and Challenges From the Field

The EU National Roma Inclusion Strategy: A Window of Opportunity for Romani Women in Italy?

Selective Inclusion? Insights Into Political Parties' Recruitment of Immigrant Background Candidates in Bolzano

Selektiv-inklusiv? Die Repräsentation von Kandidierenden mit Migrationshintergrund in politischen Parteien in Südtirol

Der Ukrainekrieg und die Kirchen

Pandora's Box: The Roma minority and Covid-19