Damien CANAVATE

Thesis project

Working title: Contemporary transformations in the cultural and linguistic policies of French regions (1980s - 2010s)

The aim of this thesis project is to examine contemporary transformations in the cultural and linguistic public policies of French regions, in the light of the long history of regionalist demands on the one hand, and of recent administrative and territorial reforms on the other (acts of decentralization, regional mergers, processes of territorial differentiation, etc.). Using comparative and socio-historical tools, the research project will explore three cases, all marked by significant political and institutional recompositions in recent years: that of the Corsican collectivity, that of the Grand Est region as well as the future European collectivity of Alsace, and that of the Occitanie region. The central aim of this work is to explore the concrete consequences of regionalist mobilization in terms of public action in cultural, linguistic and local development matters. In order to better understand the mechanisms that govern the production of public programs in the sectors where its demands are concentrated, the investigation examines the way in which the dynamics of regionalism and other political forces interact. At a time when the regional fact is becoming institutionalized, and when certain territories are riven by tensions between center and periphery, this research project places the analysis of public action in the sectors under consideration in the interplay between regionalism as a political ideology and electoral mobilization, regionalization as a legal-political process, and regional governance as a mode of government at the local level of the state.

Under the supervision of Christophe Roux, Professor of Political Science, CEPEL - University of Montpellier.