The departments of Sociology and Political Science at the University of Amsterdam invite  applications for a PhD candidate on the project 'A new urban-rural divide? Explaining attitudinal differences on the basis of inequalities'. This position is funded by the Amsterdam Centre of Inequality Studies (AMCIS).

We are looking for a PhD candidate with strong methodological skills who can further the understanding of urban-rural inequalities and how these relate to political attitudes.

Project description

A recent opinion piece in the Financial Times was headlined ' Urban-rural splits have become the great global divider' (Rachman 2018). This idea has certainly gained prominence after the election of Trump in the US and the Brexit referendum, where support for Trump and for the Brexit turned out to be particularly high in some rural areas. The same was the case for the ‘no vote’ in the ‘Ukraine referendum’ in the Netherlands. In several academic contributions, rural areas are depicted as economically struggling, demographically declining, and politically either apathetic or on the verge of populist revolt (e.g., Cramer 2018). Cities, by contrast, are depicted as dynamic: winning out in post-industrial and globalizing societies, attracting educated, healthy and politically involved residents. While studying urban and rural differences has a long tradition (With 1938), it is unclear if and how these differences structure political oppositions in advanced industrial democracies. The aim of this PhD project is to better understand to what extent urban-rural inequalities can explain differences in a range of political attitudes.

The proposed project makes two main contributions. First, it looks at the interplay between the urban-rural divide and other geographically defined oppositions (especially the ‘centre’ versus the ‘periphery’), as well as the inequalities that exists between residents within these areas. Second, it examines the theoretical mechanisms that explain why attitudes diverge in rural and urban areas, with attention for both selection and treatment effects.

Empirically, the project can consists of the following components, although the selected candidate is encouraged to develop her or his own focus. First, urban-rural and centre-periphery inequalities since the 70s can be mapped by combining datasets documenting demographic patterns (CBS) with datasets measuring attitudes (NKO, CV). The can reveal to what extent an urban-rural or centre-periphery divide structures citizens’ attitudes and how this has changed over time. Secondly, the causal mechanisms linking attitudes to citizens’ geographical location can be studied using longitudinal data, tracking individuals over time. To this end, the LISS panel data (2007 – now) can be linked with data from CBS. This allows for the analysis of composition changes and moves (see for example, Lancee and Schaeffer 2015), and whether these affect political attitudes.

During the four-year PhD project the selected candidate develops their own four-year research agenda on the abovementioned theme. This research is conducted both independently and in collaboration with other members of the departments of Sociology and Political Science. The supervisors are prof dr Wouter van der Brug, dr Bram Lancee, prof. dr. Sarah de Lange, and dr Eelco Harteveld. The PhD candidate can be tasked with a limited amount of teaching of bachelor students (up to 10% of the working time).

You have:

• a Master’s degree in Political Science, Sociology, or any other relevant social science;         
• an excellent command of quantitative research designs and statistical methods;    
• a strong affiliation with the themes of the project.

You are:

• enthusiastic about doing social science research;
• interested in doing research that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

The intended starting date of the PhD position is 1 September 2019, or soon thereafter.

The position concerns a temporary appointment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of 4 years. The initial appointment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching Bachelor's students.

Your salary will be €2.325 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €2.972 in the fourth year, based on full-time employment and in keeping with the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities. We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

What else can we offer you?

A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organisation. The social and behavioural sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

To work at the University of Amsterdam is to work in a discerning, independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

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.