From the Armed Underground to the Government and Assembly: A Trajectory of Corsican Nationalism (2014–2020)

Abstract

A notorious and rather unexpected event took place on the French island of Corsica in June 2014 the local nationalists publicly announced the cessation of the armed struggle. In December 2015, they managed to secure 47% of the seats in the Corsican Assembly; two years later, in December 2017, the coalition Pè a Corsica for the first time in history won the regional elections having emerged with the majority of seats in the assembly. Executive power came to be directed by a member of the nationalist coalition as well. What motivated this change in tactics and why did the democratic strategy prove a more effective way for the nationalists to reach their goals? How has the situation been developing on the island since then? What did the nationalists manage to accomplish and where did they not succeed? For how long can they count on the trust of the population to stay in power? These are the questions I will try to address in this article drawing on the outcome of the 2018 field research as well as on the analysis of mass media in Corsica and generally in France.