The Chair for Development Theory and Policy is looking for a research assistant in support of the EUCOR funded project ‘Making Infrastructure Global? Design and Governance of Infrastructural Expansion in the Global South’. The project is a joint initiative between the University of Freiburg and the University of Basel.
Contemporary infrastructure projects often look alike, produced as they are by planning agencies that operate across the world in public-private partnerships. This global production of infrastructure—ranging from oil pipelines and plants to power grids and dams—is rapidly transforming the Global South. This interdisciplinary project combines approaches from urban studies and political science to explore the role of global planning agencies and colonial legacies in transnational infrastructural expansion in the Global South. Based on three cases of energy infrastructure projects in East Africa, North Africa and Latin America, this research analyzes the contested power dynamics triggered by attempts at making infrastructure global. With EUCOR seed money, the partners will establish a cross-border research platform and develop a proposal for DFG/SNF or ERC funding.
The prospective candidate will assist the Freiburg-based project partners Dr. Alke Jenss and Dr. Benjamin Schuetze with background research on two cases of transnational energy infrastructure projects (installation of submarine cables between Spain and Morocco, establishment of overland power grid interconnections in Central America). In addition, the candidate will help prepare research trips to Morocco and Costa Rica, help consolidate initial results and provide initial assistance in writing a draft application for a larger third-party funded research project on the design and governance of infrastructural expansion in the Global South.
The successful candidate will be employed as student or research assistant (10h/week), starting on May 1 and ending on July 31. Remuneration will be based on the standard hourly rates for student or research assistants.
Essential requirements:
- Full fluency in English
- Enrolled at the University of Freiburg (BA, MA or PhD candidate) & based in Freiburg 05-07/2020
- Awareness of and interest in transregional entanglements, the politics of large-scale infrastructure projects and colonial continuities
- Interest in and experience with qualitative research designs and interdisciplinary approaches (anthropology, political science, sociology and urban studies)
Desirable requirements:
- working knowledge of Spanish, Arabic or French
- experience with third party funding applications
Please direct further queries and submit your application (CV + writing sample (term paper or similar)) to alke.jenss [at] abi.uni-freiburg.de and benjamin.schuetze [at] politik.uni-freiburg.de. The deadline is March 15th.