Political Concepts in the World – The politics of ‘religious pluralism
The University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme, is delighted to offer 6 Early Stage Researcher (PhD) positions, lasting 3 years starting in September 2019, for ground-breaking research on how political concepts, such as nation, citizenship, civil society and rule of law, are used in the world.
ESRs will complete a PhD with an inter-disciplinary supervisory team and benefit from a world-class training programme, including placements with one or more of our 23 international partners. They will also actively participate in the activities of the Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and the Rule of Law (CISRUL). We welcome applicants from across the social sciences and humanities, including anthropology, cultural and literary studies, education, history, legal theory and socio-legal studies, philosophy, politics, religious studies, sociology, and theology.
ESRs will be employed by the University on a salary of £26,489.40 per annum, and will be eligible for a range of additional benefits including ample travel and research funding.
One of the topics that we invite applicants to consider is The politics of ‘religious pluralism’
It has become commonplace in Europe to presume that ‘religious communities’ represent a problem, or even a threat, to the values and norms of secular liberal democracies. In the UK, Richard Dawkins has long championed the view that religion is inherently violent and thus hostile to pluralistic democracy; in Germany, a similar warning is articulated in the work of theorists like Herbert Schädelbach. Such critics argue that, because adherents assert that their specific theological tradition is the one description of ultimate reality, all other traditions are not only considered false, but are also perceived as threatening betrayals of the truth. Numerous controversies have heightened the assumption that religion is antagonistic to pluralist democracies, including the reaction to the cartoons depicting Muhammad in Denmark in 2005, broad-ranging disputes over laicité in France, and the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists. Such events have once again brought the question of religious minorities to the forefront of public debate. PhDs are invited to explore how religious citizens in pluralistic democracies conceive of and engage with the society in which they live. For example, they may consider how religious pluralism is promoted through law and in constitutions, or in education.
Other indicative topics listed in the Further Particulars are
- “We the people” beyond the nation-state
- The “nation” resurgent?
- Traditions of “citizenship” within and beyond Europe
- Rule of law and constitutionalism
- Sovereignty and the state
- Teaching political concepts in post-truth times
- The ‘democracy Phoenix’ – are young people changing the meaning of democracy
- Protest, populism and social movements
- Digitalising ‘democracy’ – transforming the concept?
- Civility and understanding the political
- ‘Radicalisation’, ‘extremism’ and the role of ‘civil society’
- Conceptualizing secularism, post-secularism and religion itself
- Horizons of the ‘political’
These are indicative topics – applicants are free to propose their own projects on how political concepts are used in the world.
Candidates are required to meet the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher eligibility criteria. In particular, at the time of the appointment candidates must have had less than 4 years full-time equivalent research experience and must not have already obtained a PhD.
Additionally, they must not have resided in the UK for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the appointment.
Any appointment will be offered a contract of employment that will be conditional upon satisfactory references, a 12 month probation period, the fulfilment of any conditions specified in the offer of a place on a PhD programme, and confirmation of the right to work in the UK and ability to secure a valid visa, if required, from UK Visas and Immigration.
Deadline is 5th of March 2019. Please click here for Further Particulars and details of how to apply.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754326.