0.5 FTE Postdoc Research Fellow: Political Economy of the Internet
The EU project netCommons (2016-2018) studies the sociological, technical and legal aspects of the Internet infrastructure in Europe.
The University of Westminster team is a co-operation of the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) and the Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies. It is led by Christian Fuchs and studies the political economy of Internet infrastructure. We are looking to hire as soon as possible and until the end of 2018 a London-based 50% (fixed-term) postdoc research fellow specialising in the political economy of the Internet. Distance-work is not an option for this position. It is a 50% position with a total salary of £19,536.5 – £21,696 p.a. (incl. L.W.A.) [i.e. £20-£21k for 17.5 hours of work per week]. Ideally, we are looking for someone who lives and works in London and is interested in such a part-time position.
The appointee will hold a social science PhD (in sociology or a related field) and will be familiar with the approach of critical political economy of communication as well as foundations of social science-oriented Internet research. A key aspect is that the person will possess excellent skills in both quantitative and qualitative empirical social science research methods. S/he will also have skills in ethical impact assessment of information technologies. The appointee will have a track record of academic publications and be able to leverage contacts and networks in order to organise workshops, events and a survey for this project.
The postoc research fellow will help conducting a both quantitatively and qualitatively focused survey; analyse and interpret the survey results both statistically and qualitatively; conduct interviews; conduct ethical and societal impact assessment of Internet infrastructure’s political economy especially in the context of un/sustainability, ownership and commodification, democracy and civil rights, privacy and surveillance, net neutrality, the digital divide and ideologies; help organising workshops that engage academics as well as non-academics in the wider public and relevant communities of interest; produce and publish research reports and articles in open access journals; present research results; and create accessible materials for the public.
If you are interested to apply, then please submit one sample publication (a published article, a chapter from a collected volume, monograph chapter; unpublished or forthcoming works, works in a language other than English, and unpublished dissertations are not eligible) characteristic for your work together with your application (CV, application form). It is best to combine the CV and the sample publication into one pdf file
Further information: Christian Fuchs, c.fuchs@westminster.ac.uk
Application and job details:
https://vacancies.westminster.ac.uk/hrvacancies/default.aspx?id=50044110
Application deadline: 18 February 2018
