RESEARCHER PROFILE: Postdoc / R2: PhD holders (A maximum of three years after thesis completion)
RESEARCH FIELD(S)1: Social Anthropology
MAIN SUB RESEARCH FIELD OR DISCIPLINES1: Anthropology of religions / Sociology of Religions
JOB /OFFER DESCRIPTION
Religious pluralism and the anthropology of spiritual subjectivities
The researcher (fixed-term contract) will be recruited as part of the AMIDEX programme Living altogether, religious pluralism, inclusive societies and subjectivities (LIvAL) - Project reference: AMX-22-RE-AB-024 - led by Christophe Pons at the Institut d'Ethnologie et d'Anthropologie Sociale (IDEAS, Aix-en-Provence, France). Its profile is that of a specialist in the human and social sciences of religion, an anthropologist or sociologist of religion, with a good knowledge of the issues surrounding religious plurality on the one hand and, on the other, of the anthropology of subjectivation and agentivity (conceptions of the subject, self, subjectivity) applied to the fields of religion, spirituality, mysticism and religious commitment. An interest in the Atlantic world would be welcome.
The LIvAL programme
LIvAL is an anthropology of religion programme that takes up two major challenges. On the one hand, it asserts the need to understand contemporary subjectivities, both singular and collective, in their diversity and multiple modes of realisation; this is a major challenge for modern societies today, and also for anthropology. On the other hand, LivaL stresses the need to accept religious plurality, which is now a necessity in contemporary societies, not an option. To achieve this, anthropology must become the master of dialogues and confrontation between religions and spiritualities.
By combining these two strands, subjectivation and religious plurality, the LIvAL programme aims to examine contemporary spiritualities, the subjective religious modalities of being acted upon and contemporary transformations in spiritual conceptions of the self. It focuses on three major themes: Scripture, Music, Bodies/Images.
LivaL is both a research programme and a training programme.
Tasks
The researcher will work in one of the above-mentioned areas, conducting his/her own research in Europe, Africa or the Americas. He/she will contribute to the common desire to rethink, empirically and theoretically, the diversity of agentive transformations of subjects and self-conceptions, and the plurality of new beliefs and values. He or she will work closely with Christophe Pons (CNRS, IDEAS, principal coordinator of the AMIDEX programme) and the other members of the IDEAS team physically present on site at the MMSH: Marie-Laure Boursin (CNRS, IDEAS), Marion Dumoulin (CNRS, IDEAS), Benoît Fliche (CNRS, IDEAS), Séverine Gabry-Thienpont (CNRS, IDEAS).
In addition to his/her personal research, to which he/she will devote half of his/her time, the contract researcher will work closely with Christophe Pons to monitor the research developed by the group. He/she will co-organise the group work meetings and in particular the final conference at the end of the contract. He/she will be involved in setting up a network of partners with a view to a wider programme and, under the responsibility of Marion Dumoulin, will be responsible for part of the programme's administration and management. Lastly, he/she will create and run a research blog on the programme and the training courses run under it.
Expected Results at the end ot the Post-Doctoral Contract
- Research as part of the AMIDEX programme and publication of research results
- Leading the research team and providing administrative support
- Launch and management of the programme blog
- Support for the organisation of the conference and the future programme
The project
LIvAL (2025-2027) seeks to understand subjectivities today as a major challenge, both for future modern societies and for the humanities and social sciences. To what extent do the dramatic changes, crises and transitions that the world is currently undergoing affect the processes of subjectivity? LIvAL focuses this question on religious plurality and contemporary spiritualities, questioning the subjective modalities of being acted according to the axes of Scriptures, Music, Bodies and Images, with a reflexive dimension around the Euro-Atlantic-Mediterranean region. LIvAL is not a new proposal for thinking about the importance of the empowerment of the Self in religious commitment, a task often undertaken, but rather an attempt to rethink, empirically and theoretically - through ethnography, comparative research and training - the diversity of the agentive transformations of subjects and self-conceptions, the plurality of new beliefs and values, the cohabitation of different and contradictory conceptions, and the needs and challenges implied by tomorrow's inclusive policies. This project is based on two pillars. Firstly, it is strongly structured around a long-term academic and scientific partnership (projects, publications, training courses, journals) that the pilot unit (IDEAS) has with Portuguese social anthropologists and the Portuguese-speaking world at large. With LIvAL, IDEAS is deploying an academic vision of long-term scientific internationalisation by opening up Aix-Marseille Anthropology to the transatlantic and particularly the Lusophone worlds, thereby filling a major scientific and academic gap. Secondly, on the strength of this Portuguese partnership (ICS - Univ. de Lisboa) and an already structured academic teaching and training offer (with a Canadian North American partner, and another IRD/AMU specialising in Africa), LIvAL is a two-year springboard project with the ambition of submitting a European Collaborative Project enriched by other European partners.
In terms of training, LivaL is developing a range of training programmes, Masters Classes and Summer Schools for Masters and Doctoral students, designed as courses of excellence involving various partner universities, with priority given to Aix-Marseille University, the University of Lisbon and the University of Montreal. Based on a transnational university training programme already underway for three years, Anthropologie des Circulations Religieuses Afrique Amérique Europe (ACRAAE), the project's training component supports the programme's dynamic, which is particularly associated with issues of promoting dialogue and confronting religious plurality; it also develops transnational and transatlantic links, in particular with Portuguese-speaking and Canadian partnerships. At each stage of the programme, LIvAL ensures that the training dimension is open to students: Training 1. April 2025: ACRAAE - Morocco (Ecospiritualités, Subjectivités, Ecritures, Futurs). Training course 2. July & September 2025: MEDMUS - France & Portugal (Music & Subjectivities). Formation 3. April 2026: ACRAAE - Brazil (Politics, Writings, Religious Plurality & Images). Formation 4. April 2027: ACRAAE - Montreal (Bodies, Subjectivities and Plural Religiosities).
On the research side, three meetings will be held for the various stages of the project. Each meeting will review the progress of the research (deliverables: two major publications) and the development of a consortium of European partners with whom to carry out a Horizon Europe project. The first two meetings will take place in Aix and in hybrid, and will combine a conference open to all participants.
The Laboratory
IDEAS, formerly IDEMEC, is a general anthropology research unit involving Aix-Marseille University and the CNRS (UMR 7307). Housed at the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme in Aix-en-Provence, the unit is developing a research programme structured around the anthropology of plurality, which examines social practices, the making of subjects, aesthetics and epistemologies marked in the contemporary world by the co-presence of several social and cultural models.
TYPE OF CONTRACT: TEMPORARY / JOB STATUS: FULL TIME
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31/08/2025 00:00
ENVISAGED STARTING DATE: 01/10/2025
ENVISAGED DURATION: 12 months + 12 months
WORK LOCATION(S): IDEAS – Institut d’Ethnologie et d’Anthropologie Sociale (UMR 7307) – AMU/CNRS MMSH – Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences Humaines, 5, rue du château de l'horloge 13090 Aix en Provence France
WHAT WE OFFER: 2 616,35 €/month (Gross amount)
Additional information: The Euraxess Center of Aix-Marseille Université informs foreign visiting professors, researchers, postdoc and PhD candidates about the administrative steps to be undertaken prior to arrival at AMU and the various practical formalities to be completed once in France: visas and entry requirements, insurance, help finding accommodation, support in opening a bank account, etc. More information on AMU EURAXESS Portal
QUALIFICATIONS, REQUIRED RESEARCH FIELDS, REQUIRED EDUCATION LEVEL, PROFESSIONAL SKILLS, OTHER RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS
Professional and/or technical skills:
Scientific skills:
- Specialist in the human and social sciences of religion
- Good knowledge of a region in the study area under consideration
- Strong empirical grounding
- Thoroughness and good writing skills, ability to formulate a scientific project, publish and promote your research
- Ability to work in a team on international projects
Technical skills: An interest in digital humanities (possible training), Knowledge of desktop publishing (DTP)
Cross-disciplinary skills: Research leadership and administration:
Language skills: Fluency in written and spoken French ; For foreign candidates, understanding of French is desirable (B1) ; Fluency in written and spoken English (desired level C1) ;
Ability to work according to rules and procedures and to meet deadlines
Constraints and risks
- Possible variations in working hours due to constraints in the field
- Possible field missions
- A presence on site is necessary and could be moderated with some teleworking.
REQUESTED DOCUMENTS OF APPLICATION, ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, SELECTION PROCESS
Diploma required: doctoral degree in a humanities and social sciences discipline, with expertise in the cultural area of reference.
- Scientific output (communications and publications, other than the thesis)
Application documents
- CV including a list of publications
- Letter of motivation
- Research project developed as part of the postdoctorate (6 pages maximum, including bibliography)
- PDF of the thesis
- One or two publications that the candidate considers relevant to the application
HOW TO APPLY: [email protected]
