The International Institute of Social Studies (part of Erasmus University Rotterdam) seeks to appoint a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Development Studies with teaching and research expertise in environment, inequality and conflict.

We envisage a broadly trained candidate with an interdisciplinary background and PhD in the social sciences. The successful candidate will be expected to carry out cutting-edge research within the Political Ecology research group, which is one of the groups comprising overall focus on Global Development and Social Justice at ISS. Complementing and extending the group’s broad and multi-faceted understanding of both environment and conflict, the successful candidate will work on the interrelationships between conflict and socio-economic inequality, rural-urban linkages, poverty, and marginalization (among others). An empirical focus on climate change would be welcome. In terms of regional specialization, the priorities are Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia.

The successful candidate will be expected to play a major role in forging collaborative linkages across the ISS, in both research and teaching. Candidates are therefore requested to discuss in their application how their research interests relate to work done by researchers based not only in the Political Ecology research group, where the position is based, but also in other research groups at the institute (e.g. Civic Innovation, Development Economics, and/or Governance, Law and Social Justice).

Candidates must have a clear research focus and an active publication strategy. Ability to attract and manage research grants is also expected. As with all ISS academic staff, the candidate will be expected to contribute to the MA in Development Studies as well as PhD supervision. The candidate’s teaching base will be the Major in Agrarian, Food and Environmental Studies (AFES) although, as with research, collaboration with other majors will be encouraged, in particular with Social Policy for Development, and Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies. Willingness to contribute to other majors or to institute-wide teaching efforts, such as in research methodology, will be considered an asset. Finally, the candidate will be encouraged to pursue relevant externally financed consulting and capacity building opportunities.

• A PhD in a relevant field of social sciences
• Familiarity and experience with the field of development studies
• Active and documented research interests in environment, and in one or both of the themes inequality and conflict.
• Demonstrated capacities in interdisciplinary work and team research
• A good publications record and active publication strategy
• An ability to attract and manage research grants

The selected candidate will be offered a contract at the level of Assistant Professor, with the possibility of tenure subject to fulfilment of conditions that would be specified dependent on previous career. The successful candidates are invited to start as soon as possible.

In accordance with the conditions applied at Erasmus University Rotterdam as indicated in the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO NU) of the Dutch universities, the salary is dependent on the candidates’ experience and ranges from € 3.637,- to € 4.978,- gross per month, on a fulltime basis. In addition, EUR pays an 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year payment of 8.3% and offers excellent secondary benefits.

The International Institute of Social Studies is committed to building and sustaining a community based on inclusiveness, equity and diversity and believes this will contribute to our mission and vision of being the best institute in our field. ISS is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities and nationalities. Given the current composition of the ISS academic staff and priorities relating to staff diversity, the Institute has a preference for applicants originating from the Global South and also encourages applications from minority candidates.

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), named after the 15th century Rotterdam-born humanist and theologian Desiderius Erasmus, is a research university with a strong international orientation and a pronounced social focus, both in its education and research activities. The expertise of Erasmus University Rotterdam is concentrated in eight faculties or institutes focusing on Economics, Medicine and Health Sciences, Law, Social Sciences, History and Arts, Business Administration, Philosophy and Development Studies. In addition to initial degree programmes and scientific research, the University offers specific postgraduate study programmes and courses. Erasmus University has around 25,000 students and approximately 2,800 staff members comprising more than 100 nationalities.

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is a leading academic centre for international development studies. While based in The Hague, the ISS is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. ISS was established in 1952 as a post-graduate institute of policy-oriented critical social science and development-oriented research. ISS offers a PhD in Development Studies, a 15,5 month MA in Development Studies, a joint MA in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP), a MPA in Governance delivered in Suriname, and post-graduate Diploma courses.

ISS brings together a highly diverse international community of scholars and students from both the global South and the global North, on average, originating from over 50 different countries. The Institute brings together people, ideas and insights in a multi-disciplinary setting which nurtures, fosters and promotes critical thinking and innovative research on fundamental social problems. The strong partnerships with organizations and individuals in developing countries make up a vibrant network where we co-create knowledge so that teaching and research remain socially relevant. Key to the ISS philosophy and practices is the wish to contribute to achieving social justice and equity on a global level.

Political Ecology Research Group

The Political Ecology research group investigates the ways in which resource scarcities are created and contested, particularly in contexts of unequal access, poverty and social exclusion. Within the framework of climate change and environmental, food and energy crises, the emergence of new hubs of global capital, and demographic transitions, the group pays particular attention to how agrarian, food and environmental policies shape the political economy of development and related social and economic policies, and population, gender and generation dynamics. The group is interdisciplinary, critical and policy-relevant: it builds on insights from economics, sociology, politics, anthropology and geography to construct a critical political economy approach to study the relationship between resources, environment and population dynamics, and how these fit into processes of and policies for socioeconomic development and structural transformation.

 Agrarian, Food and Environment Studies MA Major

Agrarian, Food and Environmental Studies (AFES) offers an interdisciplinary approach – combining political economy, political ecology, and political sociology – to understanding and confronting the impacts of global capitalist development on agrarian structures and environmental systems. The focus is on the social, political and economic dynamics of rural and agrarian change and environmental degradation, seen from a wider perspective of rural and rural-urban links, and across the Global South-North divides to include emerging international actors in agro-environmental terrain, such as BRICS. Themes addressed include: land, water and natural resources use, access, property relations and conflict; climate change, environmental degradation; and extraction, use, management, and distribution of natural resources; rural poverty, social exclusion and marginalization; emerging popular alternatives such as food sovereignty and agroecology; as well as global agrarian and environmental politics, including (trans)national agrarian and environmental justice movements as well as food movements.