Ever since the outbreak of war in September 2002, Côte d'Ivoire has been floundering in a poisonous morass of identity politics. The most obvious sign of this is the affirmation by a certain section of the population of an ultranationalist and extremely violent ‘patriotism’, to use the term favoured by its proponents. In the south of the country, which remains under government control, this particular brand of nationalism, aggravated by the radical rhetoric of the ruling party and its allies, is the expression of a three-pronged rejection. The first rejection is of the former colonial power, France, which retains a strong presence in the country. The second is of immigrants from neighbouring countries. The third, and most damaging, is a rejection of the many Ivorian citizens whose geographical origin, ancestry, religion or family name makes them second-class citizens, of doubtful nationality, in the eyes of southern ‘patriots’.

This article aims to investigate both the historicity and the novelty of this ultranationalist mobilisation, best understood within the longer history of the formation of the Ivorian state and its political economy. At the same time, however, it also has to be understood within the shorter-term perspective of political struggle, most obviously the extended succession dispute that followed the death of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, and as a reflection of the generational conflicts at the heart of the country's political elite.