MPI for Social Anthropology: 2 PhD positions 1458 views

The Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology invites applications for 2 Phd positions in Political and Economic Anthropology of Southeast Asia. The institute is one of the leading centres for research in social anthropology. The positions are available at Department “Resilience and Transformation in Eurasia”

Starting date: 1 October 2017

About the Project:

• The construction of infrastructures as technopolitical assemblages is central to the organization of state power. With a focus on electricity in three key areas – generation, transmission, and consumption – this Research Group will investigate how the expansion of electric grids in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) interacts with social, political, and economic forces at various levels of governance.
• Policies and bureaucratic encounters will be investigated with reference to their role in the construction of particular (gendered, neo-liberal, moral, political) subjects and subjectivities.
• By applying an infrastructural perspective on statemaking processes, the Research Group aims to enrich current understandings of government and governance across different political regimes in and beyond Southeast Asia.

Qualifications:

• Applicants must hold Master’s degree in Anthropology or a related discipline.
• Applicant must possess excellent academic writing and communication skills in English.
• Applicants having prior field experience in the designated region and knowledge of relevant national and local languages would be advantageous.
• Applicant must attach short research proposals (maximum 2 pages); successful applicants are expected to be ready to modify details of their proposal when the Research Group is consolidated.

Duration: 3 years; possibility of two six-month extensions

Applications:

• Apply online and send the following documentation:
• Cover letter
• CV with a list of publications
• Summary of the proposed research, which must demonstrate clear links both to the applicant’s previous work and qualifications and to the respective research field (2-page)
• university degrees
• 2or 3 referees with names