Phd Position - Social Sciences - Subsidies Lifting In The Middle East And North Africa

15 May 2023

Job Information

Organisation/Company

Aix-Marseille Université

Department

IREMAM

Research Field

Political sciences » Public policy

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

France

Application Deadline

23 Jun 2023 - 12:00 (Europe/Paris)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Offer Starting Date

1 Oct 2023

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

In the framework of the SUBLIME project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), the Institute for Research on Arab and Muslim Worlds (IREMAM) is recruiting a PhD student for a 36-month social science thesis starting in October 2023.

Main objectives of the research project

The SUBLIME project, which started́ in January 2023, studies the change that is undermining one of the pillars of the social state in the Arab world: consumer subsidies, especially on food and energy. In several countries, there is a trend away from this old model of universal social protection towards new targeted cash transfer programs. This trend has been reinforced by the 2011 and 2019 uprisings in the MENA region, which many actors (international donors, governments, experts, researchers, etc.) have interpreted as a demand for the renewal of the 'social contracts' inherited from independence.

Through a critical approach to the assumptions associated with the idea of social contract, as well as to the vision of subsidies as an instrument of subordination or as a budgetary burden, the SUBLIME project seeks to revisit the relationships between forms of social redistribution (subsidies, cash transfers), processes of reforms, and related dynamics of consent, politicization and mobilization. It aims to produce empirical and comparative studies in four post-uprising societies - Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Lebanon. The project focuses on the 'lifting' of subsidies as an indicator of the plural political texture of subsidies. It hypothesizes that reforms engage conflicts within socio- economic supply chains and bureaucratic relations, generate ambivalent political debates and sectoral mobilizations, and produce new ‘entangled layers' of social policies.

The project is co-sponsored by IREMAM in Aix-en-Provence (UMR7310), CERAPS in Lille (UMR 8026) and IFPO in Beirut (UAR 3135), and will end in 2026. Team members: Marie Vannetzel (CNRS, head of IREMAM, general coordinator), Myriam Catusse (CNRS, head of IFPO), Amin Allal (CNRS, head of CERAPS), Eric Verdeil (FNSP), Assia Boutaleb (Université Paris 1 Sorbonne), Pierre France (OIB)

PhD proposal

The PhD proposal will focus on one of the countries within the scope: Algeria (priority), Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt or, possibly, Morocco. The thesis will focus on one or more of the project's dimensions:

Socio-history of food and/or energy subsidy systems

Study of actor coalitions and expert, administrative and political con"gurations, public decision-making processes, social engineering of cash transfer programs

Sociology of subsidy supply chains, socio-economic actors, companies and corporations, sectoral conflicts and mobilizations

Ethnography of access to subsidies and/or cash transfers, bureaucratic relations, household budgets

Other complementary aspects (political economy, cartography, quantitative data processing...)

Working context

The thesis will be supervised by one of the team members, possibly in co- supervision with a second person. The successful candidate will be registered as a PhD student in the Doctoral school of his/her supervisor(s)' affiliation in France.

The PhD student will take part in collective tasks and research activities according to clearly defined modalities. The PhD student will be strongly encouraged to spend at least 12 months in the field.

Conditions

The admitted PhD student will sign a doctoral contract granting a minimum of 1715 euros net (including social contributions) per month for a period of 36 months, from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2026. The doctoral contract is financed by the ANR.

Requirements

Research Field

Political sciences » Public policy

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The candidate must have (by June 2023) a Master's degree in social sciences.

He/she must have strong linguistic and methodological skills adapted to the conduct of his/her research project.

Specific Requirements

Capacity to conduct fieldwork in a MENA country - Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt of Morocco

Languages

FRENCH

Level

Good

Internal Application form(s) needed

ANR SUBLIME Offre contrat doctoral - PhD position.pdf

English

(374.21 KB - PDF)

Download

Additional Information

Selection process

Application The application consists of 2 steps: 1) Submit your CV and a short covering letter (1 page) through the CNRS job portal on the website: https: // emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR7310-CHRVAY-008/Default.aspx…

2) Send a complete application file to the following addresses: [email protected] ; and [email protected] (SUBLIME project coordinator).

The application file must include the following documents:

1. The CV in PDF format 2. The covering letter including the name and contact details of a referee who has supervised the applicant during his/her studies. This person may be contacted by the committee. 3. The PhD research project in PDF or Word format (2,000 to 5,000 words maximum) 4. The Master's thesis in PDF format, including in an unfinished form if it is being finalized at the date of application 5. If available, the Master 1 grades, and possibly the Master 2 grades.

The applications will be examined by a committee composed of the project members. The pre-selected candidates will be interviewed by videoconference

Calendar Application deadline: 23 June 2023 at the latest (NB: the CNRS website indicates 30 May but the deadline will be postponed) Date of the auditions: 3 July 2023, on Zoom.

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Aix Marseille Université - IREMAM

Country

France

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https: // emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR7310-CHRVAY-008/Default.aspx?lang=EN

Contact

City

Marseille

Website

https: // www. iremam.cnrs.fr/en

Street

58 boulevard Charles-Livon (Headquaters)

Postal Code

13007

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED