Germany: 2 Research Assistants (PhD candidates), "Contestations of the Liberal Script" (SCRIPTS)

[administrator]

The Cluster of Excellence SCRIPTS assesses contemporary challenges for liberal democracy and market economy from historical, global, and comparative perspectives. It brings together expertise in social sciences and area studies in Berlin, and collaborates with research institutions as well as political, cultural and civil society groups worldwide [http://www.scripts-berlin.eu].

Within its framework, the Junior Research Group ‘Peripheral Liberalism’ explores the emergence of liberal economic thought in state socialist countries before and during their transition to market economies. A particular focus is put on the transnational exchange of ideas within the socialist world, and on the engagement with other ‘peripheral’, and often authoritarian, development models from the 1970s to the 1990. The project will explore how economists and social scientists in South-/Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union/Russia and the People’s Republic of China developed their ideas on free markets and liberal institutions in engagement with each other and their own intellectual traditions rather than wholesale importing them from the West. The research group will also assess how their ‘peripheral liberalism’ was contested from early on, and how counter-movements and resistance to it eventually fed into the emergence of variants of illiberal market economies in much of the (former) socialist world.

SCRIPTS provides a stimulating academic environment and expertise in area studies, global history, and political economy as well as financial support for archival and conference trips. Successful candidates will join a prolific community of early career scholars at the ‘Berlin Graduate School for Global and Transregional Studies‘ (BGTS) as affiliated members. For a detailed description of the research programme, participating faculty and the strong network of international partners, please visit https://www.scripts-berlin.eu/about-us

Job description:
• Research on economic reform debates in state socialist countries (South-/Eastern Europe, Soviet Union/Russia, PR China) from the 1970s to the 1990s.
• Focus on transnational intellectual history or biographical approaches to assess the professional lives of economists in (post-)socialist countries.
• Archival research and conduction of interviews in countries pertinent to the project.
• Dissemination of research results through co-authored publications as well as conferences and workshops.
• Collaboration with researchers of SCRIPTS and contribution of research results to the wider agenda of the Cluster.
• Supervision for PhD dissertations is provided.

Requirements:
A university degree in History, Area Studies, or any other field that is pertinent to the project is required.

Desirable:
• Ideally, the candidates hold an excellent master’s degree. Their dissertation has focused on intellectual economic history in at least one of the
regions of the project (South-/Eastern Europe, Soviet Union/Russia, China).
• Candidates are preferred who are fluent in English and the languages relevant to the research proposal, and are familiar with relevant scholarly debates and approaches in global history, intellectual economic history, and the history of state socialism.

For additional information, please contact Dr Tobias Rupprecht (tobias.rupprecht@fu-berlin.de ).

Further Information

How to apply:
Please send your application with the following documents: cover letter including names and contact information of two referees; curriculum vitae, abstract of MA thesis (one page); research proposal (two pages) including a brief explanation of how your project fits in the framework of the Junior Research Group.

Applications should be sent by e-mail, together with significant documents, indicating the reference number, in PDF format (preferably as one document) to: tobias.rupprecht@fu-berlin.de

On the given occasion and for the duration of the essential on-site operations by Freie Universität Berlin, we kindly ask you to apply electronically by e-mail. The processing of a postal application cannot be guaranteed.

Freie Universität Berlin
Exzellenzcluster 'Contestations of the Liberal Script’ (SCRIPTS)
Dr. Tobias Rupprecht
Ihnestr. 22
14195 Berlin
Germany

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=60092