Two Postdoctoral researchers on Locating Global Protest against the Extreme Right

The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki invites applications for the position of
TWO POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS ON Locating Global Protest against the Extreme Right: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Racism and Internationalism in Multiethnic Metropoles
for a fixed term period for the duration of 1 year, starting in August 2024 or as agreed.

These positions are part of an Academy Research Fellow grant awarded by the Research Council of Finland to Kasper Braskén (Principal Investigator) for the project Locating Global Protest against the Extreme Right: Anti-Fascism, Anti-Racism and Internationalism in Multiethnic Metropoles (LGP), based at the University of Helsinki from 2023 to 2027. The LGP-project explores the creation of anti-fascist protest movements in Cape Town, London, New York City and Chicago, ca. 1930–1960, and thus investigates the continuities/discontinuities between interwar and postwar anti-fascisms. The project will produce knowledge of various locally embedded articulations of transnational and global politics and investigate the different methods and means of anti-fascist territorialization in multiethnic environments.

As class, color, and cultural lines formed formidable divisions within cities, the project seeks to explore if and when interracial/interethnic and internationalist anti-fascist protest practices were created and how different political alliances were formed between various groups within the cities. The LGP-project encourages proposals that analyze the political mobilization of overlooked or marginalized groups in society. New contributions on e.g. African, Asian, Eastern European, Jewish, or Nordic groups within these cities are especially welcomed.

The project team will carry out individual and collaborative basic research that utilizes global, national, and local archives, including digital archives and newspaper databases. The project aims to produce significant open access research data on anti-fascist protest movements, campaigns, rallies, demonstrations, meetings, congresses, and cultural events, and analyze the formation of contested urban anti-fascist spaces. As a part of the LGP-project, the postdocs and Principal Investigator will create an online portal on anti-fascist geographies using ArcGIS software that will make the project’s findings accessible to a wider public.

Each postdoctoral researcher will collect and analyze protest data about one or several interlinked contexts, and publish individual and/or co-authored articles on the research findings. The combined efforts of the Principal Investigator and the postdocs will offer significant synergy effects and enable comparisons and the analysis of anti-fascist entanglements between groups and cities.

It is essential that applicants specify the case studies that they propose to focus on, including potential source material, and give a clear account of relevant linguistic and subject-related competencies for carrying out the proposed research.

For further information about the LGP-project and its international collaboration partners, please visit the project website .

RESPONSIBILITIES

The main task of each appointed postdoctoral researcher is to produce case studies that contribute to the LGP-project’s research aims and objectives. The applicant is expected to present research findings on seminars and conferences and actively participate in the collaborative work of the project. Working closely with the Principal Investigator, the post-doctoral fellows will play a pivotal role in implementing the project’s research aims and objectives. In addition, each researcher will actively contribute to teaching and administrative tasks in the discipline of Political History at the University of Helsinki (up to 5% of their working time annually) and assist in preparing new research proposals. It is possible to complete the teaching and administrative tasks in English.
QUALIFICATIONS

An appointee to the position must hold a doctoral degree in history or social sciences. The default assumption is that the doctoral degree requirement must be met by the beginning of the employment. The period following the completion of doctoral degree must not exceed five years, excluding family leave and equivalent periods of absence. Applicants are expected to have an excellent command of written and spoken English.
ESSENTIAL QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES

Successful applicants will demonstrate excellent research skills relevant to the field of social movement research and international politics, global and international history, ethnic and minority studies, human geography, or urban studies. Strong organizational skills are required to plan and conduct basic research independently. As a team member of the LGP-project the applicant is expected to have excellent collaboration and communication skills.

WHAT WE OFFER
University of Helsinki is an equal opportunity employer and offers an attractive and diverse workplace with a variety of development opportunities and benefits. The annual gross salary range will be approx. €43,000 – €47,000, depending on the appointee’s qualifications and experience. Standard Finnish pension benefits and occupational health care are provided for university employees. Further information can be obtained online . The employment contract will include a probationary period of six months.
Finland is a member of the European Union, has high quality free schooling (also in English) and generous family benefits and healthcare. Finland was recently ranked as the best country in the world for expat families, and Helsinki in the world’s top ten most livable cities. Finland and the Helsinki region feature leading research and innovation facilities, clean environment, affordable accommodation, and excellent international, national, and local transport connections. For more information about working at the University of Helsinki and living in Finland, please see the website .

The chosen applicants are expected to reside in Finland while employed by the University of Helsinki. The Faculty of Social Sciences provides assistance in relocation.

HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your application, together with the required attachments, through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the link "Apply now" (“Hae nyt”). Applicants who are currently employed by the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the SAP Fiori portal at https://msap.sap.helsinki.fi. The closing date for applications is 1 March 2024.
Applicants are requested to enclose with their applications the following documents in English:
1) A curriculum vitae that includes all publications and the names, positions and contact details of two referees, 2) A statement (max 1 page) outlining how the applicant would contribute to the LGP-project, 3) An outline (max. 1 page) of the applicant’s research experience relevant for the project 4) A writing sample (ONE published work such as article or book chapter OR a chapter from PhD).

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in March via zoom.

Applicants of any gender, nationality and cultural background are welcomed.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information about the positions and the research project may be obtained via [email protected].

The Faculty of Social Sciences is Finland’s leading research and education institute in the social sciences, and the country’s most diverse social sciences faculty in terms of the range of its disciplines and fields of research. The Faculty has a strong international research profile and an international master’s programme, and several of its disciplinary units have been rated among the top 50 in the world.  The Faculty has approximately 500 research and teaching staff, and each year it awards some 350 bachelor’s degrees, 400 master’s degrees and more than 40 doctoral degrees.