Home>Julien Argoud
Research Interest(s): Religions, Ideologies, Identities, Methods, Aesthetics
Discipline(s): Political Science, Sociology
Subdiscipline(s): Political Sociology, Comparative Politics
Research Group(s): Nationalism, religion, identity and discrimination; State, political regimes, mobilisations
Geographical Area(s): Global realm , North Africa, Western Europe
Country(ies): France, Morocco
Language(s): French, Arabic, English, Italian
Biography
Julien Argoud is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Sciences Po’s Centre for International Studies (CERI), supervised by Stéphane Lacroix and Philippe Portier. His research examines the state’s non-recognition of Moroccan converts to Christianity and the resulting condition of semi-clandestinity. More specifically, he investigates how repression is rendered invisible in authoritarian contexts, and how this also enables states to invisibilize the existence of particular social groups. At the individual level, he explores the processes through which individuals become Christian and how their condition of semi-clandestinity is progressively constructed, and potentially contested, over the course of their lives.
Before beginning his PhD, Julien Argoud completed the Sciences Po-UCL Dual Bachelor’s Degree programme, a bachelor’s degree in Law at the Université de Bourgogne, and a master’s degree in Political Science at the Sciences Po School of Research. His master’s dissertation, which examined conversion from Islam to Catholicism in France, received the scientific award of L’Harmattan. It was published by L’Harmattan in 2025 as De Mohammed à Jésus. La conversion au catholicisme en France pour les croyants issus de l’islam [From Mohammed to Jesus. Conversion to Catholicism in France for Believers from Muslim Backgrounds].
Thesis topic
Being an Irregular Citizen in an Authoritarian Context: A Systemic Analysis of the Semi-Clandestinity of Moroccan Converts to Christianity, supervised by Stéphane Lacroix et Philippe Portier
Teaching
Sciences Po
- Comparative Politics (FR), 48 hours, Autumn semester, 2024–2025, Paris campus, undergraduate programme.
- Qualitative Methods (EN), 24 hours, Autumn semester, 2024–2025, Paris campus, undergraduate programme
- Introduction to Academic Methods (EN), 36 hours total (12 hours per semester), Autumn and Spring semesters, 2023–2024, and Autumn semester, 2024–2025, Paris campus, undergraduate programme
- Introduction to Political Science (EN), 48 hours, Spring semester, 2022–2023, Le Havre campus, undergraduate programme
Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane
- Writing Skills & Research Design (EN), 10 hours, first term, Master’s programme.
publications
Peer-reviewed articles
- Julien Argoud (2026). Conversion of Individuals, Conversion of Systems. Conversion from Islam to Christianity as a Mirror of Morocco’s Postcolonial Situation. Political Anthropological Research on International Social Sciences (PARISS), 7(1): 33-60.
- Julien Argoud (2025). « Amazighité » et conversion au christianisme dans le Maroc contemporain : une étude du « mythe amazigh ». L’année du Maghreb, 34: 1-20.
Book
- Julien Argoud (2025). De Mohammed à Jésus. La conversion au catholicisme en France pour les croyants issus de l’islam. L’Harmattan, collection Prix Scientifique.
Book review
- Julien Argoud (2023). Simona, Roberto. Conversions religieuses et liberté. Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions. Bulletin bibliographique.