ABSTRACT
The literature on peripheral nationalisms presents the French Basque country (Iparralde) as a classic case of a 'failure' of nationalism in contrast to the 'success' of its southern equivalent. Since the 1970s, mobilizations in Iparralde concerning Basque language and culture, peasant agriculture and social economy have played a special role in generating social capital and legitimizing the idea of a shared territorial destiny. This chapter explores what imaginary, in terms of sovereignties, has been conveyed by the mobilization of French Basque civil society, particularly as regards cultural and economic matters. It examines in what way has the new model of territorial governance experienced by the French Basque since the early 1990s helped channel, institutionalize or radicalize 'sovereignist' claims. The chapter also explores in what ways have sector-based regulatory constraints influenced the unification or (on the contrary) the proliferation of diverse 'imagined sovereignties' (cultural, socio-economic, territorial or food sovereignties) contending with each other.
