On the project Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities

Project: ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities,’ Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.

Postdoctoral position

Deadline: 30 January 2025

We are pleased to announce a position available on the project funded by the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Job Title

Postdoctoral Researcher

Position

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will work as a part of a research team within the project ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities’ coordinated by Dr. Martin Fotta. You will develop your own writing projects related to the project, researching how the social status, attributes, and spheres of action associated with Romanies have been established and evolved in relation to other communities and racial movements.

Job information at a glance

• Start date: 01.06.2025 or soon thereafter
• Duration: 1 year (with a possibility of extension for up to 6 months)
• FTE: full-time position
• Workplace: Prague or Brno
• Gross salary: 2300 EUR per month

Your qualifications

• PhD in anthropology, ethnology, history or related discipline.
• Capacity to work autonomously and develop writing projects dedicated to the objectives of the Romani Atlantic project
• Demonstrable writing skills manifested in high-quality PhD dissertation and peer-reviewed academic publications.
• Willingness to present at international conferences and to contribute to public communication (website, social media).
• Excellent oral and written English skills are required; working knowledge of Portuguese; Romani or Czech would be an advantage.
• Keen interest in theoretical frameworks central to the project, such as diaspora studies, Romani studies, critical race studies, or decolonial and postcolonial theories.

We offer

• International, ambitious, friendly, and supportive team.
• Opportunities to work within an innovative research project.
• Funding to participate at conferences.
• Training seminars and workshops to further professional qualifications and for personal development.
• Institutional affiliation with the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Application process

The application must contain following documents:

• Motivation letter outlining your plans for 12 months and explaining how your writing project aligns with the objectives and the regional focus of the Romani Atlantic project.
• CV
• Writing sample (languages accepted: English, Czech, Slovak, German, Polish, Portuguese)
• The names and contact details of two potential referees

The deadline for the application is 30.01.2025, 12 pm CET. Please email a single pdf file to ticha@eu.cas.cz under the subject ‘Romani Atlantic Postdoc.’

About the project

The project ‘Romani Atlantic: Transcontinental Logic of Ethno-Racial Identities’ recasts Roma from ‘the largest European minority’ to a pan-Atlantic diaspora shaped by the processes and relationships that structure the globalized world. It advances our understanding of the relational nature of identity formation and social classifications. Despite the centuries-long presence of Roma in the Americas and Africa, scholarship remains methodologically Eurocentric. Romani identities are commonly treated in isolation from global connections that shape how they view themselves and are viewed relative to other ethno-racial communities. Alternatively, the project proposes to investigate Romani identity within comparative, transnational, and intercultural frameworks. The team will conduct ethnographic and archival research in the South Atlantic (Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde) and examine Romani social position in relation to other ethno-racial projects. This will generate insights into how different racial contexts impact their belonging and interethnic interactions.

The Institution

Institute of Ethnology pursues both basic and applied research in the field of ethnology and cognate fields. The general aim of the Department of Mobility and Migration, where the project is based, is to understand the role of mobility and migration in the contemporary world and to describe and theorise how identities, practices, discourses, institutions, and places are formed and transformed as a function of movement through space and time.

Further information

If you have further questions or want more information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Martin Fotta by email (Fotta@eu.cas.cz).

If no suitable candidates are found the vacancy will be reopened. 

We are looking forward to receiving your application!