Tamanta strada: From Political Protest to Institutional Governance – Corsican Nationalist Paths
Public Lecture
Nov 18, 2025 — 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The Centre on Governance is pleased to host the conference Tamanta strada: From Political Protest to Institutional Governance – Corsican Nationalist Paths. This talk draws on in-depth doctoral research to explore how Corsican nationalism moved from radical protest, including moments of armed struggle, into the sphere of elections and local institutions. By examining the lived trajectories of activists, the event sheds light on the continuities and tensions between protest and governance, offering fresh insights into the complex ways movements transition from opposition to institutional participation.
About the event:
This conference looks at how Corsican nationalism became part of institutions, using the concept of milieu. This approach makes it possible to understand both the paths of activists and the organization of nationalist groups in Corsican politics.
The talk is based on doctoral research showing how a movement first known for radical protest, and for some actors armed struggle, gradually entered elections and local institutions. Studying activists’ lives shows how political socialization, time in clandestine networks or associations, and partisan changes all helped transform forms of commitment.
The analysis shows that this shift was not a clear break. Instead, the move from protest to participation reveals strong continuities between different types of action: violent and non-violent, opposition and governance, radical activism and local management.
By tracing this tamanta strada (this “long road”), the conference highlights how these continuities shaped a political world where the lines between protest and power, between violence and non-violence, are more blurred than they may appear.
Ornella Graziani
Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa and an affiliated researcher at the Univer
Ornella Graziani is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa and an affiliated researcher at the University of Corsica. Her doctoral thesis, titled “Tamanta strada: From Political Contestation to Institutional Governance – Corsican Nationalist Trajectories”, examined the institutionalization of the Corsican nationalist movement and its effects on the partisan milieu.
Her research focuses on minority nationalist parties, particularly the links between activist trajectories, forms of legitimacy, and patterns of political engagement. She has notably published in the journal Politeia.