The Department of Anthropology, School of Culture and Society, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University invites applications for two 30-month postdoctoral positions set to begin February 1st, 2024.
Place of employment: Aarhus University, Department of Anthropology, Moesgaard, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark.
The postdoctoral researchers will contribute to a DFF-funded project that will examine how cryptocurrencies have become integrated into everyday informal economic practices in countries at the margins of financial and technological power.
The university is keen for its staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified applicants regardless of their personal background.
About the project
The project explores the social practices that form around cryptocurrencies and asks what problems they solve for participants in informal economies. It further investigates what new intermediaries gain importance in these novel financial arenas, what communities they afford, and how trust is negotiated in them.
The project will comparatively study three empirical themes: Digital currency systems as (1) generators of informal income (for example via play-to-earn video games), (2) a means to transfer remittances, and (3) alternative local payment and credit systems for unbanked people. The two postdoctoral researchers will conduct fieldwork in the Philippines, and Kenya, where cryptocurrencies have emerged as a significant tool to ease economic hardship.
The position
The successful applicants will be expected to:
- contribute to the development of a comparative research design
- conduct nine months of independent fieldwork within the framework of the project
- present their research results at international meetings and publish results in international outlets
- contribute to the organization of an international conference at Aarhus University
- co-author and publish research results in textual and multimodal formats together with the other project members.
Applicants must submit:
- a concise statement of motivation for applying for the position [maximum two pages]
- Up to 5 of the most relevant publications. Please attach one pdf-file for each publication. Only submitted publications will be assessed; a list of publications is not sufficient. As a result, applications without submitted publications will not be assessed.
- Certificates/Diplomas
- A CV
- A list of publications.
- If available: a project portfolio/ examples of multimodal works (photographs, film, sound work, artistic products, etc.). Such audiovisual materials can be included as links to external media webpages such as Vimeo and YouTube.
Qualifications
Applicants for this position must hold a PhD degree or equal qualifications in anthropology or a related field.
Applicants must document:
- an international research profile including fluency in written and spoken English
- qualitative research experience in one of the two respective field sites including competence in local languages (The Philippines and Kenya)
- familiarity with relevant methods, theories and critical texts related to digital anthropology, the anthropology of value and money, and/or the anthropology of infrastructures.
Skills in media practice (film, sound, photo, web, performance, exhibition-making) are not required but a plus.
Professional references or recommendations should not be included. Applicants who are selected for an interview may be asked to provide professional references.
The application must be submitted in English.
For further information about the position, please contact [email protected]
For more information about the application, please contact HR supporter Marianne Birn, e-mail [email protected].