The
Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH) currently has a vacant Postdoc researcher position as part of the Dutch National Research Agenda (Nationale Wetenschapsagenda, NWA)-funded project
Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: Mobilisations, Combat experiences, and Return trajectories, led by main researchers Dr Samuël Kruizinga (UvA) and Dr Elanie Rodermond (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/NSCR). ASH is one of the five Research Schools within the
Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research.
What are you going to do?Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, thousands of volunteer "foreign fighters" - including an unknown number of Dutchmen - have joined Ukraine's International Legion. The research project
Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: Mobilisations, Combat experiences, and Return trajectories' central aim is to study both foreign fighting generally and increase our understanding of the International Legion specifically. Specifically, it aims to ascertain how the unique Ukrainian battlespace and the (social) media landscape shape mobilisations, combat experiences, and return trajectories of this iteration of the foreign fighter phenomenon.
You will, on the basis of currently available, but disparate historical data sets on foreign fighters in the 19th and 20th century, as well as contemporary information on returning Islamic State volunteers, set up hypotheses related to this project's central aim. Then you will test these by making creative use of contemporary open sources on foreign fighter involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war, including social media posts. Crucially, you will contact and then interview actual, potential and/or returning Dutch members of the International Legion.
Your research will be indispensable in increasing policy makers' as well as mental health and legal experts' ability to understand the ramifications of foreign fighting on both systemic and personal levels. Societal stakeholders in the overall project are
ARQ Nationaal Psychotrauma Centrum, the Dutch national centre for specialist diagnostics and treatment of people with complex psychotraumatic complaints,
ARQ Kenniscentrum Oorlog, Vervolging en Geweld, the prime Dutch knowledge centre for research on the psychosocial impact of war on individuals and society, the
T.M.C. Asser Institute, which specialises in international (humanitarian) law and operates at the interface of academia, legal practice and governance, and the
Nederlands Veteraneninstituut, which promotes the social recognition of combat veterans, and has expertise in and developed a working methodology for sensitive, post-mission interviews with combat veterans. Together with these stakeholders and project leaders Kruizinga and Rodermond you will contribute to a
workshop to be organized by all subproject partners to bring together historical, legal, psychological, psychiatric, political and social science, experiential and government perspectives on foreign fighting in Ukraine and beyond; to a joint
policy brief resulting from the workshop designed to disseminate public knowledge and influence policy; and to a
podcast on foreign fighting.
Your tasks and responsibilities:
- participating in meetings with the project leads and partners;
- conducting research, presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences and publishing a single-authored, peer reviewed article;
- co-organising knowledge dissemination activities (workshop, policy brief, podcast).