The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) currently has a vacant PhD position as part of the ERC-funded research project Fashioning Power through South-South Interaction: Re-thinking Creativity, Authenticity, Cultural Mediation and Consumer Agency along China-Africa Fashion Value Chains, led by main researcher dr. Tommy Tse. ASCA is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research. ASCA is home to more than 120 scholars and 160 PhD candidates, and is a world-leading international research school in Cultural Analysis. ASCA members share a commitment to working in an interdisciplinary framework and to maintaining a close connection with contemporary cultural and political debates.

What are you going to do

This PhD position is embedded in the ERC-funded research project Fashioning Power through South-South Interaction: Re-thinking Creativity, Authenticity, Cultural Mediation and Consumer Agency along China-Africa Fashion Value Chains. The aims of the project are 1) to move beyond a Western-centric epistemology to map the chains, restraints and materialities of China's power expansion through everyday fashion; 2) to collect and triangulate empirical information along complete South-South commodity chains through multi-sited ethnography, semiotic and visual analysis, individual and focus group interviews, wardrobe archival studies, and other digital methods; and 3) to provide evidence of how Chinese-African fashion industries impact upon the social, cultural, economic and affective lives of Eastern African consumers in the context of increasing globalisation, digitalisation, consumerism, and China's ambition abroad.

While the ERC-funded research as a whole will use an assortment of research methods to map out the (1) production, (2) trade, (3) retail, and (4) consumption processes of fashion products along the China-Africa fashion value chains, the PhD researcher - focussing on one of the four subprojects - will primarily focus on the fourth stage (consumption) and work closely with a Postdoc researcher (third stage, retail) in the fieldsites, the main researcher (dr. Tommy Tse), and another full professor from the Media Studies Department (as co-supervisor).

The PhD's research includes the following:

• Conducting ethnography, focus group interviews and wardrobe studies with African consumers in Nairobi, Kenya and Maputo, Mozambique in his/her second and third year of study.
• Working with a professional photographer to document important items through the wardrobe interview process, for subsequent visual and semiotic analysis.
• Collecting and analysing various fashion-related social media posts (texts, photos, videos) using digital ethnography and/or other relevant digital methods.
• Joining the full research team for a short multi-sited ethnographic visit to China (Guangzhou) in his/her third year of study.

Your tasks and responsibilities:

• Conducting research and completing a PhD thesis within the period of appointment;
• Publishing three peer-reviewed journal articles within the period of appointment;
• Setting up and managing project data (while taking into consideration the project's risk analysis, and complying to its data management plan);
• Participating in the meetings of the project, and closely collaborating with the main researcher, 2 other Postdoc researchers, and 1 other PhD;
• Assisting with knowledge dissemination and with the organization of project workshops, conferences and a creative exhibition;
• Presenting research results at national and international workshops and conferences;
• Contributing to the content of the project website with your research findings.

You are passionate about developing innovative strategies for combining humanities and social science research of fashion, media and culture. You are interested in media and cultural theory, non-Western fashion and its connections to current debates on China's global power and cross-cultural exchange. In addition, you have a social and cooperative attitude, and you thrive in a team setting. You are curious and open-mined towards research traditions you are less familiar with.

Your experience and profile:

• A relevant Master's degree in the Humanities or Social Sciences, on a topic relevant to the project, completed no later than 31 August 2022.
• Outstanding research qualities manifested in strong transcripts.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of the following research methods: ethnography; individual and focus group interviews; narrative, semiotic and visual analysis.
• Demonstrable experience working with theoretical frameworks, and a keen interest in the research fields central to the project: media and cultural studies, consumption studies, fashion studies, affect theory, and memory studies.
• Excellent written and spoken English (IELTS certificate of qualification 7.0 or higher), and a high-level of proficiency in/understanding of Portuguese and/or Kiswahili.
• Team spirit and experience working in an interdisciplinary, international setting.
• Willingness to travel abroad for fieldwork, research stays, conferences and workshops.
• Strong interpersonal, analytical and organizational skills.

Experience in wardrobe study and knowledge in Mandarin and/or Cantonese will be a plus.

Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.

The PhD researcher will be appointed at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. The first temporary contract will be for 16 months, with an extension for 32 months, contingent on a positive performance evaluation within the first 12 months. The employment contract is for 38 hours (1,0 fte) a week. The preferred starting date is 01 January 2023.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and relevant experience, will be €2,443 during the first year to reach €3,122 during the fourth year, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the '30% ruling', may apply to non-Dutch applicants.

What else do we offer

• PhD candidates receive a tuition fee waiver.
• PhD candidates have free access to courses offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and the Dutch National Research Schools.
• Excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.
• An enthusiastic, inspiring and professional academic team in the centre of Amsterdam.
• The opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers at research institutes that - partly as a result of their interdisciplinary approach - are world renowned.

Faculty of Humanities

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in the field of language and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutes in the capital city. Research and teaching staff focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and are active in several teaching programmes. Its Media Studies Department, which hosts this project, is ranked 1st in the 2022 QS World University Rankings in Communication & Media Studies for the fifth year in a row.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.