Iñaki Martínez de Albéniz
PhD in Sociology (2003) and Full Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of the Basque Country (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, EHU). He is a Full Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work, which he directed between 2019 and 2023. In recent years, he has worked—from what he terms a “gastrological” perspective—on issues related to cooking and food. He understands gastronomy as an eco-social landscape, conceived as an intersection of transdisciplinary and trans-scalar challenges that call into question the usual arsenal of methods and techniques employed by the social sciences. He has collaborated in his research with restaurants (Mugaritz, Nerua, Akelarre, Arrea!, Nublo, among others), contemporary art and culture centers (CA2M, Tabakalera, Azkuna Zentroa, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Sala Rekalde), research institutes (AZTI, Tecnalia, Fundación EPICA), as well as educational institutions such as the Gastronomic Open Ecosystem (GOe) and the Basque Culinary Center, of whose International Scientific Committee he is a member. His most recent publication in the field of gastronomy is the book El idiota gastronómico (2024).
In the field of natural–cultural landscape analysis, his current interest focuses on the study of two ecosystems in the Basque Country: the Sanctuary of Arantzazu and the Lemoiz nuclear power plant, which—despite the tensions inherent to the Anthropocene—display a resilient, even resistant, capacity. Among the multiple analytical dimensions of these ecosystems, the spiritual one has attracted the greatest interest in his analyses. His work in this area aims at elucidating infrastructures, analyzing human and non-human assemblages and processes, and designing prototypes or devices that intervene in these ecosystems.
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