International Conference – Emergent sovereignties
Bilbao, 27–28 November 2025
Identities, Territories, and State-building of Stateless Nationalisms
The research group Parte Hartuz of the University of the Basque Country (EHU) invites you to participate in the Fifth International Conference on Nationalism, to be held on 27 and 28 November 2025 at the Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao. Under the title Emergent sovereignties, the conference will examine the identities, territories, and state-building of stateless nationalisms. On 29 November, the Sovereigntist Forum will be held.
The plenary sessions will discuss the following topics: processes of secession and sovereignty from a geostrategic perspective; feminism, intersectionality and nationalism; digital sovereignty and stateless nations; nationalism and decoloniality theories; new challenges of nationalism and sovereignty.
We invite you to join this academic reflection in a critical and enriching space to share your vision.
In recent months, we have received around 60 communications, which you can also find in the Papers and Publications section
More than 130 people have registered and we have had to close the registration for infrastructure reasons
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INAUGURAL LECTURE
Michael Billig, Emeritus Professor at Loughborough University, published Banal Nationalism in 1995, which is now one of the most frequently cited books in the field of Nationalism Studies. Essentially, his work argues that in order to evoke passionate expressions of nationhood during times of crisis, it is necessary to nurture national consciousness in the everyday lives of citizens, during periods of stability, by using subliminal discursive forms. In this Inaugural Lecture, Michael Billig will discuss banal nationalism, the current state of Nationalism Studies, and the case of stateless nations..
PLENARY SESSIONS
Feminism for Nationhood and Statehood
How do you look at nation-building from feminism? From a feminist perspective, we will address issues such as national, state, secessionist movements, etc. In intersectionality, how does the axis of the nation intersect? What has been the relationship between feminism and nationalism in the Basque Country? What is a state where feminism is transversal? Three speakers will be with us to answer these and other questions: Maria Rodó (from Catalonia), Johannes Hess (from Berlin) and Mila Amurrio (from the Basque Country). In addition, two other speakers will guide the plenary: Maider Galardi and Olatz Dañobeitia.
Digital Sovereignty in Stateless Nations. The Basque case.
What are the global processes and steps in the field of digitization and artificial intelligence? How does all this affect us in the Basque Country? What are we doing and what can we do as a people in the field of digital sovereignty? Igor Calzada (IKerbasque/EHU), Edu Apodaka or Asier Amezaga (EHU) and Olatz Arbelaitz (EHU/puntueus) will be the speakers.
International sovereignty: the case of Greenland
Sovereignty at the international level: what happens when the interests of more powerful states are at stake? How does international relations and geopolitics affect the sovereignty or secession of a country? What are the chances and threats of a nation in the interests of the powers of the world in the development of its sovereignty or secession? In the case of Greenland, would secession automatically lead to greater sovereignty? Or maybe it could lead to a loss of autonomy? These questions will be brought to the Greenland case by Maria Ackrén, Professor of Political Science at the University of Greenland.
Decolonization and nationalism.
Decoloniality and Sovereignty: How can we study pathways to emancipation from a decolonial perspective? Specifically, how do ethnic conflicts and the emancipation processes of Indigenous peoples offer analytical tools for examining the logic of colonial oppression? This roundtable will address key issues such as the construction of nation-states and internal colonialism in South America; the question of who was recognized (and who was not) as a subject of self-determination in those formations; the role of established states in micro-level conflicts and extreme cases of violence within communities; the strength of Indigenous political organization and its social capital as mechanisms of emancipation; and the ways in which nationalism, power, and gender intersect in these contexts. This session will present recent developments in this line of research. “Nayua Aduh, Iratxe Retolaza (Cultural Educator) and Ibai Atutxa (UPV/EHU) will take part, and it will be led by Onintza Odriozola (UPV/EHU).
SPECIAL GUESTS
Michael Billig
Loughborough University
Maria Ackrén
Ilisimatusarfik. Greenland Univesity
Johannes Heß
Freie Universität Berlin
Maria Rodó de Zarate
Universitat Pompèu Fabra
Adriano Cirulli
Università degli Studi di Bergam
Paolo Gerbaudo
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Danilele Conversi
IKERBASQUE
AFTERNOON round TABLES.
27 NOVEMBER: NATIONALISM STUDIES IN EUROPE
We will have experts from various European universities in this round table to discuss nationalism, sovereignty, and, in particular,the Basque case and to delve deeper into their perspectives. We will announce the list of invited speakers.
28 NOVEMBER: THE RETURN OF THE STATE AND THE PROCLAMATION OF SOVEREIGNTY
This roundtable, organised in collaboration with the Sovereingntist Forum, aims to reflect on the challenges faced by state´s sovereignties in the context of the neoliberal crisis and the “return” of the state and claim of sovereignty. We will announce the list of invited speakers in the coming days