The first round of voting earlier this month in France’s presidential elections showed notable political differences between the country’s regions, and also between rural areas and large urban centres. As next Sunday’s decisive second round of the elections approaches, Mediapart’s Amélie Poinssot turned to sociologist Benoît Coquard, a specialist researcher of rural communities, for his insight into the voting patterns that have emerged.
Rural France is socially, as well as geographically, diverse, with many areas in economic and demographic decline, while others enjoy a more dynamic economic environment, with wealthier social categories amid their populations. But within all this, political affiliations are even more varied, and complex, as illustrated by the results of the first round of voting earlier this month in France’s presidential elections.
