__________________________________________________
Call for Applications Type: PhD Positions on Transformations of Civil Disobedience Institution: Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam Location: Amsterdam (Netherlands) Deadline: 1.10.2014 __________________________________________________ The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis currently has two vacant PhD Positions in Political Philosophy as part of the NWO-funded project “Transformations of Civil Disobedience: Democratization, Globalization, Digitalization,” led by Dr. Robin Celikates (University of Amsterdam). Applications are now invited from excellent candidates who wish to conduct philosophical research on the transformation of civil disobedience in a world marked by increasingly transnational and digitally mediated forms of political action. The first subproject focuses on “Globalization: Civil Disobedience in a Transnationalizing Public Sphere” and the second one on “Digitalization: From Civil to Digital Disobedience?”. Job / Project Description Civil disobedience has received a fair amount of philosophical attention and is regarded as an essential part of the history and present of liberal democracies. It remains, however, also theoretically and politically contested and has undergone significant transformations. This research project starts from the diagnosis that the predominant understanding of civil disobedience fails to capture these transformations and risks undermining its democratic potential. In three strongly interwoven and mutually constitutive subprojects, it seeks to fill the corresponding gap by addressing three fundamental challenges the standard model faces: 1) How to rethink civil disobedience as not simply the protest of individual rights bearers against transgressive majorities, but as a genuinely democratic practice citizens engage in in order to address structural democratic deficits (subproject 1, to be conducted by the project leader); 2) how to rethink civil disobedience – often framed as protest citizens engage in against their national governments – in the face of the globalization of political and economic structures and the emergence of new forms of global protest (subproject 2, to be conducted by PhD 1); 3) how to rethink civil disobedience in the face of the rise of the Internet as a tool of political action and as a contested space and the corresponding digitalization of disobedience (subproject 3, to be conducted by PhD 2). It is the aim of this project to address these three challenges within the framework of a systematic theory of civil disobedience that links philosophical analysis with empirical insights from the social sciences. Tasks of the two PhD candidates will include: - Completion and defence of a PhD thesis within four years. - Regular presentation of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences. - Publication of two peer-reviewed articles. - Co-organization of expert meetings, workshops and an exhibition. - Participation in the training program of the research school. Requirements - MA (or equivalent) with excellent grades in Philosophy; an additional degree and/or substantial knowledge in the social sciences (especially political science or sociology for the first position and media studies for the second position) is a plus. - Excellent research skills. - Excellent academic writing and presentation skills. - Excellent communication, social and organisational skills. - Proficiency in English. For further information, please see: http://asca.uva.nl/phd/how-to-apply/transformations-of-civil-disobedience/ There you will also find the project description. For any questions, please contact Robin Celikates: r.celika...@uva.nl Appointment The PhD candidates will be appointed at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. Each appointment is for 4 years for 0,8 fte under the terms of employment currently valid for the Faculty. In the first instance, a contract will be given for 16 months, with an extension for the following 32 months on the basis of a positive evaluation. The intended starting date of the contract is 1 December 2014. The gross monthly salary will be €2,083 during the first year to €2,664 during the fourth year, based on 38 hours per week, in accordance with the Collective Employment Agreement of the Dutch universities. Job Application Applications for the PhD position should include: * a letter of motivation, stating why you want to do this research (no more than two pages). If you want to apply for both PhD-positions within this NWO-funded project, please explain your motivation. * a CV * a list of grades obtained for your Bachelor and Master (or equivalent) programmes * names and contact details of two academic referees * a writing sample, e.g. a published paper or a chapter from your MA-thesis. (No more than 1 MB). Applications may be submitted no later than 1 October 2014 electronically by sending your application via "Apply Now" (solliciteren2014-...@uva.nl). Contact: Robin Celikates Department of Philosophy University of Amsterdam Oude Turfmarkt 145 NL-1012 GC Amsterdam Netherlands Email: r.celika...@uva.nl __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
