Potential Ethnographic PhD Opportunity in Barcelona studying Citrus in Contexts of Migration and Environmental Change in Spain and Beyond

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Potential Ethnographic PhD Opportunity in Barcelona studying Citrus in Contexts of Migration and Environmental Change in Spain and Beyond

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Job description

Offer DescriptionWe are looking for a PhD student/doctoral researcher to support the Principal Investigator of an international research project funded by the European Research Council, based at the UB in the Department of Social Anthropology in the Faculty of Geography and History. This researcher will conduct in depth immersive-field research and other academic activities with the project over 3 years. With collaboration from the PI and support from advisors, this doctoral researcher will focus on the production, distribution, and consumption of Spanish Citrus in contexts of migration and environmental change.This project seeks to understand the invisibilization of connections between migrants and the societies of which they form part. In this regard, this part of the project specifically links this theme to the impact of climate change -such as rising heat, droughts, and especially recent important floods-, focusing on how the environment imbricates with, magnifies, or challenges existing forms of social inequality, including workplace, ethnic and ethnic hierarchies. The project focuses on bodies and embodiment from a social theoretical perspective when considering invisibilization and connection between migrants and the societies of which they form part, as well as how the bodily impacts of climate change are distributed unequally and inequitably.The project will be based on in-depth participant observation (and perhaps observant participation) ethnography conducted during 18 months of immersive, full-time fieldwork with migrant farmworkers (production), transportation and supply chain workers (transportation), and consumers (consumption) of fruits and vegetables within what the project conceptualizes as “food circuits” that are also affected by climate change. Based on this ethnographic fieldwork and engagement with social theory, the project and, specifically, this predoc, will relate environmental realities including climate change to the project’s theoretical approach to ethno-nationalism and nationalism, mobility and circulation, racialization and racial capitalism, embodiment and health, infrastructure and supply chains, connection and invisibilization with social inequalities in relation to agriculture, food, and eating.Job description: The doctoral researcher will focus on the relations between humans and the environment -including climate change, such as rising heat, droughts, or recent important floods- on the harvesting, transportation, distribution and consumption of Spanish Citrus. The researcher will focus on oranges and their national and regional significance within Spanish gastronomic identity, exploring how this importance also may intersect with environmental challenges impacting the food circuit. This includes comparing the specific struggles affecting oranges, as well as their visibility, to those affecting similar crops, such as lemons, along with the examination of the experiences of individuals involved in their cultivation, harvesting, and transportation.The researcher will take part in collaborative co-leading of presentation and publication ventures, including conference panels and journal special issues. The researcher will also help foster visual ethnography. Additionally, the researcher will actively participate in collaborative research and dissemination ventures. We seek highly motivated candidates to:

• work as part of a team in an international, innovative and multi-circuited project,
• conduct in-depth, immersive ethnographic field research, with some degree of incorporation of embodied and reflexive aspects – particularly leading the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Spanish Citrus in Contexts of Migration and Environmental Change Circuit of the project with collaboration from the PI and support from advisors.
• effectively integrate the investigation on Spanish citrus, migration and environment within the frameworks and social theory literature of the project,
• read and engage social theory and ethnography in relation to the project themes in dialogue with the fieldwork,
• help build on, critique, and develop social theory from the context of in-depth fieldwork,
• actively seek to innovate collaborative research and dissemination activities – including potentially paraethnography as well as multi-modal, artistic, dramatic, sonic and visual, and
• write and publish social science articles and chapters from the research – some of which will be co-authored – while taking turns leading special issues of top journals internationally.

Key responsibilities

• Lead Spanish Citrus, Migration and Environment Circuit of research project
• Conduct in-depth and in-situ immersive ethnographic fieldwork with Moroccan and Ecuadorian (including Indigenous) or other migrant farmworkers, transportation and supply chain workers, and consumers – with collaboration from PI and support from advisors – for a total of 18 months (6 for harvesting, 6 for transportation and 6 for consumption).
• Work with PI and circuit advisors to explore and seek respectful ways to engage with minoritized and marginalized migrant workers (such as Moroccan and Ecuadorian including Indigenous people) in fieldwork
• Read literature and conduct research to prepare for Spanish Citrus, Migration and Environment Circuit at the intersection of climate change, migration, labor, food systems, embodiment and health, Spain and Morocco and Ecuador (and other places as appropriate), social inequity and racialization.
• Seek ways to explore collaborative research and collaborative dissemination – the latter of which could be multi-modal / sensory.
• Analyse ethnographic data and interact actively with other team members through the process of analysis and theorization.
• Write and publish articles and chapters – some co-authored – some in top journals in English.
• Help in leading the development and publication of special issues to disseminate findings in top journals in English – especially during the years of the project and after the years of the project.
• Help support and foster the work of the visual ethnographic member of the team.
• Present research with the team in conferences and panel discussions
• Co-organize the final conference for the project with the PI and the rest of the team
• Help the project have positive impact on social change beyond the academy.
• Show dedication and flexibility to the project.
• Participate actively in the team’s collaborative or participatory research activities with research interlocutors.
• Follow the project’s ethics and data management protocols.
• Participate actively in the activities of the UB research group, including being present at the UB and in Barcelona during crucial times of preparation, analysis, writing, discussion, conferences, workshops and meetings. Interact actively virtually during times when the team is not present together at the UB and in Barcelona.

Where to apply E-mailmateufontimugnaini@ub.eduRequirementsResearch Field Anthropology » Social anthropology Education Level Master Degree or equivalentResearch Field All Education Level Master Degree or equivalentSkills/QualificationsExpertise/Competence/Skills1.Motivation to conduct in immersive, field ethnographic research methods, ideally with embodied and reflexive components.2. Top-level written and verbal command of academic English is required and one of the languages listed below or another language of migrant farmworkers in Spain,3. Evidence of expertise, dedication and motivation to write and publish top-quality publications, including in English.4. Knowledge of and interest in social theoretical, ethnographic and social science literatures relevant to migration and its relation to environment and migration.5. Interest in human and environmental interactions in social theory and social science.Languages ENGLISH Level ExcellentLanguages SPANISH Level ExcellentLanguages ARABIC Level GoodLanguages FRENCH Level GoodAdditional InformationSelection processIf you are interested in this position, please, email your cover letter and CV to .Work Location(s)Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Universitat de Barcelona Country Spain GeofieldContact CityBarcelona WebsiteStreetBaldiri i ReixacSTATUS: EXPIREDShare this page

Expected salary

Location

Barcelona

Job date

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 03:30:25 GMT

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