Dear members of the Polmeth list,
I am offering a 12 month postdoctoral position in the UNEQUALCITIZEN
project based in Sciences po Bordeaux. All practical details can be found
above. The deadline is 28 September 2023.
Please do not hesitate to apply or to circulate this offer,
Have a great day,
Camille Bedock
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*Funding:* French National Research Agency (ANR)
*Remuneration*: Remuneration according to the number of years' experience
after the thesis (at least 2817.87€ gross/month)
*Status*: Postdoctoral researcher
*Project manager*: Camille Bedock, CNRS research fellow
*Location*: Centre Émile Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux
*Duration of contract*: 12-month fixed-term contract, from 1 November 2023,
full-time
*Deadline for defence*: September 2023
*Reimbursement of home/work travel expenses*: Yes
*Summary of the research project*
We have long known that citizens are not truly equal: the more affluent,
the more educated and the more socially integrated participate more
intensively and are more likely to see their preferences implemented in
public policy. Despite the renewed interest in democracy in intellectual
debate and institutional spheres, the socially situated nature of
conceptions of democracy and desired institutional reforms has often been
ignored. In a context of rising inequality, this amounts to legitimising
the conceptions of democracy of dominant actors and ignoring the
aspirations of the most vulnerable groups.
The UNEQUALCITIZEN project therefore examines the influence of social and
political inequalities on conceptions of the political system in European
democracies. To what extent do these inequalities help to explain the
variety of citizens' conceptions of their political system and their
positions on representative democracy and its alternatives?
Our main hypothesis is that the most socially disadvantaged and politically
marginalised, although particularly dissatisfied with representative
democracy, do not want the end of political representation or democracy,
which remain unsurpassable horizons. However, they do support the
introduction of mechanisms to control and sanction political
representatives in order to implement the general interest, understood as
the single will of the people. We also hypothesise that national
institutions strongly shape citizens' conceptions of their political
system. Rather than focusing on the usual questions of trust or distrust in
institutions, this project is original in that it examines head-on the
normative conceptions of what constitutes a 'good' political system among
citizens of consolidated democracies in Europe. It aims first to identify
citizens' ideal-typical conceptions of their political system. It then aims
to reconstruct the discourses associated with these conceptions and to
analyse their normative foundations, while paying particular attention to
the national and individual characteristics of the different discourses and
to the question of conflicts and ambivalences running through these
contradictory aspirations.
Three scientific obstacles explain our still very patchy knowledge of these
diverse conceptions. The first is the lack of comparability of existing
research protocols, leading to often contradictory results. The second
obstacle is the lack of approaches that combine qualitative and
quantitative approaches, despite their complementarity. The third and last
theoretical obstacle results from a certain lack of interest in the
contributions of political theory, which nevertheless provides key concepts
for understanding normative conflicts on democracy and political
representation.
To overcome these obstacles, the project proposes a comparative approach
and the use of mixed methods. It combines survey data collected in several
European democracies with in-depth semi-structured interviews in France,
Belgium and Italy with citizens and activists from movements questioning
representative democracy (the Yellow Vests, citizens’ movements in Belgium,
and the Five Star Movement). The comparison aims to explore the role of
specific contexts. Mixed methods will allow us to study normative conflicts
and the articulation of national, social and political characteristics with
ideal-typical discourses on the political system. Finally, the mobilisation
of works of political theory on representation will allow us to analyse the
normative conflicts structuring these contradictory aspirations.
*Job description:*
During the 12 months of his/her contract, the postdoctoral researcher will
be attached to the Centre Emile Durkheim at Sciences po Bordeaux and will
be part of the ANR JCJC UNEQUALCITIZEN project team coordinated by Camille
Bedock (CR CNRS, Sciences po Bordeaux), made up of political scientists
based in France, Italy and Belgium.
Trained in quantitative methods and in qualitative methods, the person
recruited will take part in the *quantitative part of the project*, based
on a comparative survey of citizens' views of their political system
carried out by the ERC POLITICIZE directed by Jean-Benoit Pilet (Université
Libre de Bruxelles), a project partner, as well as other surveys already
collected. The person recruited will be involved in the production,
analysis and exploitation of the data. A command of *inferential analysis
techniques* (regression analysis) as well as *factorial analysis techniques*
(multiple correspondence analysis, principal component analysis,
classifications) is required to successfully complete this component.
She will also be involved in the valorization of the *qualitative part of
the survey*. The data has already been collected and extensively
transcribed and coded, and consists of a corpus of around 200 interviews
conducted with Belgian, French and Italian citizens and activists in
movements committed to democracy (Gilets jaunes, Five Star Movement, as
well as various citizens' movements based in French-speaking and
Dutch-speaking Belgium).
As part of the valorisation of the project's data, the postdoc will appear
as an author in all the publications and communications carried out as part
of the postdoc.
The person recruited will also be responsible for assisting the project
coordinator with the *scientific coordination* of the project. The personal
activities of the person recruited (promotion of previous research,
applications, participation in scientific networks) will be supported and
valued, and included in the workload.
Tasks required:
· Leading the scientific project in cooperation with the project
coordinator (10%)
· Research and development work on the quantitative aspect (50%)
· Development work on the qualitative aspect (20%)
· Personal activities (applications, promotion of previous work)
(20%)
*Resources*
Office at the Centre Émile Durkheim at Sciences po Bordeaux (workstation
with computer)
Financing of field missions
Software for data analysis (Stata or another statistical software, Nvivo)
Possibility for the person recruited to be a full member of the research
laboratory
Data produced during the project
*Skills *
· PhD in political science or sociology.
· Advanced knowledge of quantitative methods and database
management (preferably Stata, R): inferential and factorial analyses.
· Ability to analyse qualitative interviews
· Fluency in spoken and written French and English. Fluency in
Italian, although not required, could be useful for analysing Italian
qualitative data.
· Research experience in one of the following areas: political
sociology, political theory, social movements, political institutions,
public opinion analysis
· Ability to work as part of a research team
*Host unit*
Centre Émile Durkheim, UMR 5116
https://www.centreemiledurkheim.fr/
*Selection procedure*
Candidates must send an e-mail to [log in to unmask]
before *September
28 2023* including:
· A CV,
· A 1 or 2 page document explaining how the candidate envisages
his/her involvement in the project.
The candidates∙e∙s selected will be auditioned in person in Bordeaux (with
the possibility of expenses) or on Zoom. The auditions will take place
during from the week of *October 2 2023*.
--
Chargée de recherches CNRS
Sciences Po Bordeaux / Centre Émile Durkheim
11 allée Ausone
33607 Pessac cedex
05 56 84 43 03
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