PhD Position: Decolonising Reparations

1. Introduction

What could reparations for colonialism look like? As a PhD candidate, you will explore this urgent question, using participatory and creative research methods to foreground the experiences and expectations of Indo and Indonesian communities affected by colonialism.

2. Job description

Recent developments like the Rhodes Must Fall movement have highlighted the need to address historical injustices and global inequalities, but responses so far have often been superficial. Apologies, like the apologies the Dutch government offered to the Moluccan population in the Netherlands last summer, are often made, but more material forms of redress are slow to follow or remain absent altogether. Current scholarly debates in relation to historical injustices concern the potential and scope of reparations, which are often prioritised by survivors but politically sensitive. So far there is no consensus or empirical data on how reparations could address colonial legacies.

This important question will guide your PhD research in the NWO-funded project ‘Decolonising Reparations: Transforming the Legacies of Colonialism’, led by Dr Sanne Weber, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science. You will use participatory and creative research methods to investigate the impact of colonialism on affected communities within Indonesia and the Indonesian diaspora in the Netherlands, as well as what these communities expect from reparations for colonialism.

You will work together with participants on co-produced multimedia products about the potential role of reparations in addressing historical grievances. In addition, you will conduct interviews with a wider group of stakeholders and a vignette study with the broader population in Indonesia. You will receive training on participatory and creative approaches by the Principal Investigator. Strong knowledge of qualitative research methodologies and familiarity with participatory research approaches are an asset.

During your PhD, you will collaborate with the PI and a postdoctoral researcher who will focus on Belgium and the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa. By comparing these case studies and triangulating the diverse methods, the project will enable a better understanding of potential forms of reparations for colonialism. In this way, the project aims to contribute to the decolonisation of reparative justice theory to address the legacies of colonialism committed by Western Europe.

Your duties and responsibilities include

• Developing a concrete and feasible research project fitting the overarching theme and resulting in the defence of an article-based PhD thesis at the end of the 4th year.
• Setting up and carrying out in-depth and independent participatory fieldwork.
• Authoring and co-authoring publications with other team members.
• Participating in conferences, workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities.
• Being part of the research team and contributing to the overall organisation and strategy of the team and the project.
• Being an active member of the Department of Political Science and the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management.
• As part of your PhD position, you will also contribute to teaching (max 5%) and will have the opportunity to work on components of your University Teaching Qualification (BKO) portfolio.

Your supervision team will consist of Dr Sanne Weber (main substantive PhD supervisor) and Dr. Haley Swedlund.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate .

3. Profile

Required

• You hold a Master’s degree in political science or another relevant discipline, such as conflict studies, anthropology or development studies.
• You have a proven substantive research interest in issues of justice, including transitional, reparative and social justice, historical and ongoing injustice, reparations and redress, and theories of justice, decolonisation and intersectionality.
• You are trained in qualitative research and analysis methods. You have experience with conducting fieldwork, collecting and analysing qualitative data, ideally in relation to the theme of this project.
• You are familiar with Indonesia as you are from Indonesia or the Indo community, have worked or lived there, or have spent an extended period there.
• You are willing to conduct several months of in-depth fieldwork in Indonesia.
• You have a proven excellent command of written academic English.
• You have experience with planning, taking initiative, organising events and presenting your work to a wider audience.

Desired

• You are trained in participatory and/or arts-based research methodologies.
• You have experience working with communities at a local level and have a good command of Bahasa or another relevant local language.
• You have proficiency in Dutch.
• You have experience with basic quantitative methods of research and analysis.

4.

We are

The Department of Political Science examines the complexity and interconnectedness of contemporary politics with a focus on legitimacy and institutional change. The department consists of four chair groups: Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Theory, Comparative Political Science and International Relations. Together, they offer Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in Political Science.

You will be part of the Peace and Conflict Studies chair group (Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management, CICAM). This chair group is particularly strong in qualitative methodology and fieldwork-based research. Major research topics include land conflict, transitional justice, rebel governance and migration, as well as the politics of aid. Many of the group’s members are active in interdisciplinary Hot Spots and research collaborations across the Nijmegen School of Management and beyond.

5.

We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €3,204 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €4,051 in the fourth year ( salary scale P ).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Sanne Weber. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application. We look forward to receiving your application.

The first interviews will take place in the week of 30 November. If you are invited for the second interview, in the week of 14 December, you will be asked to prepare a short research proposal. You will preferably start your employment on 1 March 2027.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure . It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates.