Perugorria, Ignacia

Ignacia Perugorría is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of the Basque Country (EHU). She received her Ph.D. in Social Sciences from EHU, her MA in Sociology from Rutgers University (USA), and her BA in Sociology from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), all three with the highest honors bestowed by these universities. 

She is a Fulbright Scholar and has also been awarded fellowships by the Institute of International Education (USA), and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain). Additionally, she has received grants from the International Sociological Association (ISA) and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and has been named 'Basque Ambassador' by the Bizkaia Talent Program of the Provincial Council of Biscay.

Ignacia is co-founder and co-coordinator of the New Far Rights Global Research Network, affiliated with the Research Committees on Social Movements, Collective Action and Social Change (RC48) and on Social Classes and Social Movements (RC47) of the ISA. She also serves as member of the Advisory Council of the Spanish Federation of Sociology's Doctoral School (EDFES).

She has taught over twenty undergraduate and graduate courses on theory and on quantitative and qualitative methods across the United States, Latin America, and Spain. She also serves as Academic Coordinator of the Social Research Module at EHU, which encompasses all undergraduate methods courses—ten in total—within the BA and joint BA programs in Sociology and Political Science.

Ignacia has supervised four Master’s theses at the International Master’s in Sociology of Law (Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, EHU), all of which were awarded the highest distinction of Outstanding (see below). Two of these theses went on to win the André-Jean Arnaud Prize for the best MA thesis in their cohort—the first time the award has ever been shared—and another received the Mariella Carrino Grant for the Promotion of Socio-Legal Research. She is also currently supervising two PhD dissertations within the Doctoral Program in Social Sciences (EHU), one of which is being undertaken by a former Oñati student.

She has participated in 11 international research projects with Latin American (Ford Foundation; Inter-American Development Bank; National Academy of Education; University of Buenos Aires), American (ETS Research Unit; Service Employees International Union), and European funding (MINECO-EU; Basque Government). She is currently a member of the Basque University System Consolidated Research Group “GAIT-Social Change, Emerging Forms of Subjectivity, and Identity in Contemporary Societies” (Type A; IT-1469-22), and of the project “Socioecos. Building Sustainable Societies. Mobilization, Participation, and Management of Socioecological Practices” (MINECO, PID2021-126611NB-I00). She also serves as an international advisor to the project “Liberalism’s Shadow: Content, Impact and Response to Far-Right Discourse Affecting Racialised Minorities, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, LGBTQI+ Communities, Women’s Rights and Working-Class Communities during the 2024/25 Electoral Cycle in Ireland” (PI: Dr. Barry Cannon; COALESCE/2024-2029).

Ignacia's research lies at the intersection of social movement studies, cultural sociology, and political sociology, with a special focus on far-right mobilization. Methodologically, she adopts a multi-method approach that combines quantitative, qualitative, and visual tools. Her most relevant articles can be found in Politics and Religion, Current Sociology, Revista Española de Sociología (RES), Revista Internacional de Sociología (RIS), Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas (REIS), Política y Sociedad, and Recerca. She has also co-edited 2 monograph issues in Current Sociology (one forthcoming), and 6 academic volumes (Routledge; Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, forthcoming; EHU Press). Her sole-authored monograph The Politics of Celebration: Festive Networks, Intersectional Activisms and Ephemeral Urban Commons in Bilbao has been accepted for publication in The Mobilization Series on Social Movements, Protest and Culture (Routledge/Mobilization: An International Quarterly), a leading reference in social movement studies. 

Master’s theses supervised in Oñati's International Master’s in Sociology of Law:

• Teresa Casas Grille (Spain)
  La construcción de agendas en el discurso legislativo. Ley del solo sí es sí: un análisis de las estrategias discursivas y sus efectos políticos
  (Sole supervisor)
  – Grade: Outstanding
  – Winner of the André-Jean Arnaud Prize for the Best MA Thesis (2024–2025)
• Hue Thien Ta (The Netherlands)
  Surfing against Inequality: Sri Lankan Women Reclaim the Sea
  (Main supervisor; 2nd supervisor: Marta Bucholc)
  – Grade: Outstanding
  – Winner of the André-Jean Arnaud Prize for the Best MA Thesis (2024–2025)
• Hannah Atzwanger (Austria)
  Governing Public-Private Partnerships in Sustainable Urban Development: Legal Challenges in Affordable Housing and Social Equity
  (Co-supervisor: Karolina Kocemba)
  – Grade: Outstanding
  – Winner of the Mariella Carrino Grant for the Promotion of Socio-Legal Research
• Rosie Proctor (Australia)
  Disengaged and Disorganised? How Young Hospitality Workers are “Finding” their Voice through Confrontational Unionism: A Case Study of Australia’s “First Digital Union” Hospo Voice
  (Main supervisor; 2nd supervisor: Martin Ramstedt)
  – Grade: Outstanding