Researcher: Politics of Grievance and Democratic Governance

Project description

The position is linked to the ongoing EU-funded Horizon project “Politics of Grievance and Democratic Governance” (PLEDGE) which is coordinated by University of Helsinki and with Lund University as partner university under Professor Catarina Kinnvall. The position as a researcher focuses on citizens’ grievances and anti-democratic politics during crises, both on- and offline.

The project aims to explain the development of citizen’s grievances into anti-democratic politics, marked by outgroup hatred and contempt, cynical stance towards deliberation, uncompromising self-righteousness, and uncivil, disruptive collective action vs. pro-democratic politics, marked by ingroup solidarity, outgroup tolerance, empathy, cooperative and deliberative decision making, purposive and peaceful collective action. The project specifically wants to understand the transitions from pro-democratic expressions of grievances to anti-democratic, and vice versa, and how policymakers can effectively address the emotional economy of grievance politics through emotionally sensitive policymaking and new democratic structures and practices that foster pro-democratic engagement with people expressing grievances.

About the position

As part of that objective, the researcher is expected to be involved in interviews, focus groups and hybrid media research to be used for the analysis. In addition, the researcher is expected to assist with the expansion of the data infrastructure and societal outreach at PLEDGE.  

Qualifications

• PhD degree in Political Science
• Relevant research skills and academic merits
• Excellent command of spoken and written English
• The ability to conduct independent research and contribute to the PLEDGE-research program are significant considerations.

Specific qualifications for the position:

Specifically, we are looking for candidates with a research profile that includes an academic track record in the study of emotions, anti- and pro-democratic forces and media research, as well as experiences from qualitative discourse analysis, and quantitative or visual media analysis. 

Terms of employment

The position is a full-time, fixed-term employment of 1 year. The starting date is April 1 or as per agreement.

Lund University is a public authority, which means that employees get particular benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension scheme. Read more on the University website about being a Lund University employee: Work at Lund University.

Application

Apply for the position through Lund University's recruitment system Varbi. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline.

Please include the following documents with your application:

• Cover letter
• CV – degrees and other completed courses, work experience and a list of publications
• Copy of PhD diploma.

 Description of the workplace

At the Department of Political Science at Lund University, you will be part of one of Europe's foremost research environments in political science. The department safeguards the breadth of subjects and methodological diversity and is successful in the competition for external research funding. The Eden building, located in central Lund, offers an inspiring working environment with a unique combination of traditions and modern research. We have a high number of applicants for our programmes in Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies and Intelligence Analysis with just over 600 students per semester. The department has about 110 employees including about 30 PhD students. We value a good working environment highly and invest heavily in this in the form of joint activities and events.

We look forward to receiving your application!