PhD Position Transatlantic Environmental History – Leiden University

The PhD candidate will become part of the LUIH Starting Grant projects “Challenging disciplinary boundaries in security cooperation and crisis governance” and “Re-Scaling Security: Histories and Practices of Trans-Local Cooperation,” led by Dr. Andrea Warnecke and Håvar Solheim, and will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Dario Fazzi. The PhD position is fully funded. The expected starting date is 1 September 2024.

Project description:
Within the contexts of the two interrelated LUIH Starting Grant projects, “Re-Scaling Security” specifically aims to examine the rise in cooperation among local environmental activist networks across the Atlantic, spotlighting original narratives of environmental security that have emerged over recent decades. This PhD project is meant to add fresh historical perspectives on socio-ecological threats and innovative concepts of environmental governance, particularly the ones related to bodies of water. While transnational organizations have been extensively studied, local environmental activism has not received comparable historiographical focus. The project should identify and analyze the exchanges between local environmentalist groups and organizations operating within western democratic systems so to enable further exploration of their role in reconfiguring patterns – and limits – of contemporary environmental democracy.

We are thus calling for proposals that offer a historical analysis of one or more of the following dynamics:

• The transformation of local ecological demands into broader forms of environmental justice and rights;
• The contribution of local actors and networks to reshaping environmental protection as a key element of human security;
• The ways in which local concerns regarding environmental exploitation and contamination have brought to light extractive policies and practices.

We are also receptive to other suggestions that align with the larger theme of the project. We invite research approaches that intersect environmental, diplomatic, social, cultural, and political history, enhancing the multidisciplinary nature of the project.

Key responsibilities:

• Completion of a PhD thesis within four years;
• Participation in meetings of the project research group;
• Presentations of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
• Participation in the training programme of the Graduate School;
• Co-organizing workshops and conferences.