The Department of Sociology of the  Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher to study urban growth and the development of amenities in historical and comparative perspective. 

Many cities in the Global South have been expanding rapidly, creating pressures on land, fueling conflicts over resources, and disrupting engrained power relations. The growing numbers of urbanites need access to basic provisions like clean water, sewerage, roads, public space, and electricity but governments are strapped for funds and often refuse to attend to the needs of deprived residents in informal settlements. This VIDI project studies what happens under these conditions. How do residents of rapidly expanding cities succeed or fail to access amenities when they cannot fulfil their needs through the state or the market?

While the two PhD candidates in the project each study a specific city and examine collective action up close, the postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for providing a broader historical and comparative perspective. The postdoctoral researcher will examine changing urban morphologies and infrastructures over time, for instance through the use of Geographical Information Systems. In addition, the postdoctoral researcher will systematically review literature on the coevolution of collectives and amenities in rapidly growing cities.

The successful applicant will join a vibrant scholarly community in the Sociology Department, the AISSR, and at CUS. She or he will have access to travel support to attend conferences and carry out field work.

Tasks:

• conducting research within the framework of Uitermark’s VIDI project;
• publishing, together with the project leader, the results of the research in high-quality academic outlets;
• engaging with the work of other researchers within the project;
• write a literature review on rapid urbanization on the coevolution of collectives and amenities in rapidly growing cities;
• use GIS and other macroscopic methods to examine changing urban morphologies and infrastructures over time;
• participating in teaching (upon availability).

• A PhD-thesis in the social sciences, preferably with a specialization in urban studies;
• excellent command of English;
• proficient in geographical methods, ideally also competent in network analysis;
• capable and willing to work with urban studies theory and relational theory, specifically processual sociology;
• capable and willing to work in a team and engage in comparative dialogues and research.

This is a temporary appointment for 26.6 hours per week (0.7fte) and for a term of 36 months. The starting date is to be decided in consultation with the successful candidate. Salary depends on past education and relevant work experience, with a minimum salary of €3,545 and a maximum salary of €4,852 gross per month based on a full-time appointment for a 38-hour working week (in keeping with scale 11), as per the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary employee benefits, including a generous holiday scheme and year-end bonus. Because we value your continued personal development and professionalization, we also offer excellent opportunities for study and development.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Department of Sociology

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) is the largest social-science educational and research institution in the Netherlands. Our Faculty serves around 7,500 students in numerous Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Psychology, Social Geography, International Development Studies and Educational Sciences. Our academic staff is employed in education as well as research. We have over 1,100 employees at the Faculty, located in a number of buildings in the centre of Amsterdam.

This position is part of Justus Uitermark’s research project “Between collectivization and enclosure: examining the uneven provision of clean water, waste disposal and public space in rapidly growing cities,” which is funded by the Dutch National Science Organization (NWO) through a VIDI grant. The research project is embedded within the Department of Sociology, the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), and the Center for Urban Studies (CUS). In addition to the postdoctoral researcher, we are currently recruiting one PhD candidate to study Istanbul and one PhD candidate to study Accra.

http://www.uva.nl/en/disciplines/sociology