Xabier Itçaina is a CNRS Research fellow in political science at the Centre Emile Durkheim (Sciences Po Bordeaux) and was a Marie Curie Fellow at the EUI Florence (2012-2013). His dissertation focused onto the interactions between Catholicism and Basque collective identity. His current research is organized around three main themes: a) Catholicism and politics in Southern Europe (the Catholic Church and ethnoterritorial mobilizations, religious actors and local welfare, religious third sector and immigration); b) the territorial dynamics of social economy (European regulations, territorial dynamics in France, Spain and Italy); c) political anthropology of identity politics in the Basque Country (farmers’ mobilizations, ethnolinguistic mobilizations, workers’ cooperatives, cross-border civil society mobilizations, transformations of traditional repertoires of contention). These researches are theoretically grounded on a weberian perspective, historical neo-institutionalism, social movements studies, sociology of religion and historical political sociology. Among his publications are: Harguindéguy J.-B., Itçaina X. (2012), “Towards an institutionalized language policy for the French Basque Country? Actors, processes and outcomes”, European Urban and Regional Studies, 19(4): 434-447; F. Foret, X. Itçaina (eds.) (2011), Politics of religion in Western Europe. Modernities in conflict?, Routledge; Itçaina X., Weisbein J. (dir.) (2011), Marées noires et politique. Gestion et contestations de la pollution du Prestige en France et en Espagne, L’Harmattan; Itçaina X. (2011), “The power of powerlessness: religious actors’ peaceful mediation in the Basque conflict”, in J. Faget (ed.), Mediation in political conflicts. Soft power or counter-culture?, Oxford: Hart, p. 65-88; X. Itçaina (dir.) (2010), La politique du lien. Les nouvelles dynamiques territoriales de l’économie sociale et solidaire, PU Rennes; Itçaina, X. (2007), Les virtuoses de l’identité. Religion et politique en Pays Basque, PU Rennes; Itçaina X. (2006), « The Roman Catholic Church and the Immigration Issue. The relative Secularization of Political Life in Spain », American Behavioral Scientist Journal, 49(11): 1471-1488.

Research interests: religion and politics, identity and territorial politics, social economy and third sector, and traditional repertoires of contention