Deadline: May 15, 2022
See attached documents (below) for more information.
The Institute of Geography and Sustainability (IGD) seeks to fill a position of Graduate Assistant in Ecological Economics (Degrowth, Money, Culture). This position is linked to the research group of Prof. Christian Arnsperger and the Lausanne Ecological Economics Lab (LEEL).
Job information
Starting date: September 1, 2022
Contract length: 1 year, renewable 2 x 2 years, maximum 5 years
Activity rate: 80%
Workplace: University of Lausanne, Institute of Geography and Sustainability, Geopolis,
Lausanne, Switzerland
Your responsibilities:
The successful candidate will develop personal research leading to a PhD in Environmental science (not Economics) in the field of Ecological Economics, with an emphasis on degrowth in general and specifically on two fields: (i) heterodox approaches to monetary theory (and applications) and (ii) critical approaches to human rationality, motivation, and culture. These two fields may appear to have little connection to one another, but one of the aims of the doctoral research project will be to connect them in meaningful ways. The overarching issue is how to re-think the culture(s) of modern industrial societies – and hence their relationship to money, assets, and wealth – in order to move beyond the feeling of powerlessness that besets ordinary citizens as well as environmental experts when to comes to climate deterioration specifically, and to ecological degradation overall. The research will also be conducted within the framework of the activities of the Lausanne Laboratory of Ecological Economics (LEEL).
The successful candidate will devote at least half of their working time (i.e., at least 40% out of the total 80%) to their PhD research, with the remaining time reserved for supporting research and teaching of Prof. Christian Arnsperger in the fields of degrowth, economic anthropology, and monetary sustainability.