CfA: Postdoc position, Universität Bielefeld, 100%, 3 years (Deadline: 2021-08-20)

This call for application concerns a vacancy in comparative social policy analysis within the ERC funded research project “Welfare for Migrant Factory Workers: Moral Struggles and Politics of Care under Market Socialism” (https://uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/soziologie/forschung/projekte/welfarestruggles/). Led by Minh Nguyen, Professor of Social Anthropology at Bielefeld University’s Sociology Faculty, the project comparatively investigates the moral dynamics of welfare provision between China and Vietnam through the case of welfare for migrant workers in global factories. Focusing on how the workers and their families negotiate available forms of provision across the city and the countryside, it aims to understand the politics around how these market socialist countries are taking care of their work force and link them to global dynamics of welfare transformation. We are looking forward to filling a post-doctoral position as Research Fellow in the project. The incumbent of this position will conduct a comparative social policy analysis that focuses on the welfare of migrant factory workers in Vietnam and China. If the pandemic restrictions are lifted, fieldwork trips to both countries are expected.

The main tasks will be

• carry out comparative research on institutional actors and processes in the formulation and implementation of welfare policies for migrant factory workers in Vietnam and China (25 %)
• write and publish journal articles based on the study (25 %)
• contribute to the events and publications of the project in the form of presentations, book chapters and articles in edited volumes (20 %)
• work with the project team to organise and prepare project events and publications (20 %)
• further research tasks within the context of the project and project management duties (10 %)

We expect

• academic degree in political science, development, sociology, anthropology or related disciplines
• PhD in political science, development, sociology, anthropology or related disciplines
• ability to conceptualise, design and implement empirical research
• track record of international publications
• extensive experiences with social policy research in either China or Vietnam
• strong interest in the comparison between China and Vietnam
• familiarity with the political economic contexts of China and Vietnam and ability to navigate the local social and cultural settings
• excellent spoken and written English
• ability to work independently and as part of a team
• strong organisationaland communication skills

Preferable qualifications

• topic of PhD thesis in close relation to the field of research
• PhD in political science, development, sociology, anthropology or related disciplines
• good command of Chinese or Vietnamese
• experiences with comparative research
• experiences in working with migrant workers

Remuneration
Salary will be paid according to Remuneration level 13 of the Wage Agreement for Public Service in the Federal States (TV-L). As stipulated in §2 (1) sentence 2 of the WissZeitVG (fixed-term employment), the contract will end after 36 months. In accordance with the provisions of the WissZeitVG and the Agreement on Satisfactory Conditions of Employment, the length of contract may differ in individual cases. The employment is designed to encourage further academic qualification. In principle, this full-time position may be changed into a part-time position, as long as this does not conflict with official needs.
Bielefeld University is particularly committed to equal opportunities and the career development of its employees. It offers attractive internal and external training and further training programmes. Employees have the opportunity to use a variety of health, counselling, and prevention programmes. Bielefeld University places great importance on a work-family balance for all its employees.

Application Procedure
For full consideration, your application should be received via either post (see postal address below) or email (a single PDF document) sent to sekretariat.nguyen@uni-bielefeld.de by August 20th, 2021. Please mark your application with the identification code: wiss21113. Please do not use application portfolios and send only photocopies of original documents because all application materials will be destroyed at the end of the selection procedure. Further information on Bielefeld University can be found on our homepage at www.uni-bielefeld.de. Please note that the possibility of privacy breaches and unauthorized access by third parties cannot be excluded when communicating via unencrypted e-mail. Information on the processing of personal data is available at https://uni-bielefeld.de/uni/karriere/2019_DS-Hinweise_englisch.pdf.

Contact
Name: Prof. Dr. Minh Nguyen
Phone: +49 521 106-3719
Email: sekretariat.nguyen@uni-bielefeld.de