Integration durch Sprache – die Sprache der Integration

The discourse that language is the key to integration has gained momentum all over Europe, including in Switzerland, where language regulations have been introduced to integration policies, thus tightening conditions for migrants. This becomes evident in the legal materialization of the discourse in the form of “language articles” in the national law on the foreign population and in the cantonal law of integration in Basel-Stadt. This discourse, referred to as “integration through language”, is critically analyzed in this publication with the aim to understand its emerging conditions, its broader societal role and political function. The analysis is based on a critical sociolinguistic perspective and on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse. It draws 1) on documents and recordings related to the law drafting processes on the national level and on the cantonal level of Basel-Stadt, and 2) on interviews with experts and actors mainly from Basel-Stadt. It is shown how the discourse is based on ideologies of language and society, on the basis of which a discussion on the function of this very discourse is launched.