What you will be doing This research project puts the role of grassroots institutions, local communities, and local actors central in climate governance. As actors and institutions (re)shape their adaptation strategies, they also (re)configure existing power relations, and vice versa. Focusing on cases in Southeast Asia, it aims to identify and better understand various forms and types of grassroots knowledge and institutions, including how they evolve over time. Placing rights-based approaches and inter-scalar dynamics at the center of climate adaptation, it emphasizes the questions of adaptation for whom, by whom, and for what. Combining archival research, oral history, and ethnographical research, it seeks to link past adaptation practices with present and future adaptation strategies. This research project is led by KITLV in collaboration with various partners in the Global South including national universities and civil society organizations in Indonesia and Thailand. The project will start in October 2024 and has a total duration of 3 years.
KITLV is looking to hire a Postdoctoral Researcher for this project. The appointment will initially be for 1 year, with the possibility of extension, depending on the candidate’s work performance and budget availability.
The postdoc will carry out ethnographic research on the role of grassroots knowledge and institutions in climate adaptation in the past and at present, with Southeast Asia as geographical focus. The goal of this role is to focus the research on identifying, tracing, and understanding current adaptation practices, and their local, social and cultural embeddedness, including how these practices derive from past and existing knowledge and their interactions.
How to apply and more information Candidates are invited to submit their application in English or Dutch. Applications must include, in three PDF files:
- A motivation letter.
- A short research proposal (max 800 words) explaining how the candidate will design the postdoc research and how this would be relevant for the aims of the project.
- A Curriculum Vitae.
The deadline for submitting your application is June 30, 2024. Please submit your application via the Apply Now button, you can address the application to the Principal Investigator, Prof. dr. D. Suhardiman.