The Western Mediterranean Islands and the Various Uses of Independentism

Conference Island independence movements and parties in the 21st century, organisé par E. Hepburn et G. Baldacchino, Edimbourg, 8-10 septembre 2011, http://www.aog.ed.ac.uk/case_studies/independence_and_sub-national_islands

Since they promote separation from national frameworks, independentist parties are easily labelled as anti-system parties. This contribution shows how a study of party dynamics in three Western Mediterranean island jurisdictions (Sardinia, Balearic Islands, and Corsica) leads to a rather different conceptualisation of their nature and influence. Political parties favouring independence are still likely to influence other political parties and the political system as a whole. They do so mainly by adopting an accommodative strategy, which is often ambiguous and involves use of various resources. This strategy relates to their great difficulty to attain and/or maintain a significant party status and electoral presence. Above all, the independentists’ influence is highly variable, is especially significant on their closest rivals, and can only be evaluated correctly by taking into consideration external factors, such as state organisation. Thus, one needs to pay more attention to the independentist parties’ political interactions and impacts on policies, than just to their teleological dimension and ideological positioning.