Junior Researcher (MA) with a Focus on Financial Colonial History and an Expertise in Art and Artist

Join us!
We are looking for a part-time (fixed-term, 0.5 fte) Junior Researcher/Artist (MA) with a focus on Financial colonial history and an expertise in artistic research and practice. The position is available for 24 months within the project COLFIN. COLFIN analyses the colonial durabilities in modern financial infrastructures. The aim of COLFIN is to understand and analyse how the experimental beginnings and development of financial instruments were shaped by and through colonial exploitation and appropriation. The approach of COLFIN is to focus on financial infrastructures, understood as socio-technical and historically durable ways of organizing political-economic life. Artistic research is part of COLFIN’s research methods and helps to examine and present archival materials in new ways.

This successful candidate will contribute to COLFIN’s objectives through developing its artistic research methods and practice, and through presenting COLFIN’s objectives and findings to a larger public. COLFIN uses artistic research as a participatory, practice-based research method, whereby artistic ways of investigation generate public knowledge and critical interrogation. The successful candidate will contribute to developing COLFIN’s methods in artistic research, and to presenting COLFIN’s objectives and findings to a larger audience in accessible and artistic ways. The candidate will also develop an artistic product or objects on the themes of COLFIN.

What are you going to do
The junior researcher will be expected to have a high level of competence and motivation to undertake the following tasks:

• Developing guidelines for an artistic research approach to understanding and analysing colonial durabilities in financial history;
• Using artistic research methods to analyse selected COLFIN topics in archives, leading to one or more artistic products or objects;
• Contributing to designing public visibility of COLFIN, for example by helping build COLFIN’s website;
• Contribute to the organisation of research activities and events of the project, and to the wider research culture of the research institute.

What do you have to offer
The successful candidate will have proven experience with artistic research and affinity with the colonial histories of finance. Ideal candidates:

• Have a completed MA degree in artistic research;
• Have a track record in artistic practice; and a creative, innovative approach to the COLFIN topics;
• Are persons with initiative, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work independently as well as in a team;
• Have well-developed analytical and digital skills, as well as creativity and perseverance;
• Can demonstrate a strong interest in the topic of this research project;
• Are able to communicate effectively in English both orally and in writing;
• Knowledge of multiple European languages beyond English is an asset (in particular, Dutch or Spanish).

What else do we offer you
The Junior researcher will be appointed at the department of Political Science of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and will conduct the research in the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). We are offering a fixed-term, part-time contract of 19 hours per week (0.5 FTE) for a maximum period of 24 months, with a probationary period of 2 months.

The salary will range from 3,706 EUR to 5,760 EUR gross per month on a full-time basis (38 hours per week), in accordance with salary scale 10, depending on relevant experience. This excludes an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities applies.

The expected start date can be discussed but should be no later than 1 January 2027.

In this department, you will work
The successful candidate will be part of the COLFIN team, which is led by Prof Marieke de Goede. The team will eventually consist of several postdoc researchers and PhD candidates. The team will be embedded within the research group Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance of the AISSR. TCCG is an inspiring, supportive and professional academic environment, spanning research across public policy, International Relations, conflict and governance. There will also be interfaculty collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities and the UvA Humanities Labs.