[Bilimsel Haber] CfA: Urban Violence Middle-East - Postdoctoral Fellowships

[Onur Inal]

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: 2 DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPs FOR 2011/2013 (65% TvöD)

ZMO is advertising two doctoral positions for participation in an
Anglo-German collaborative research project, sponsored by DFG and
AHRB, on "Urban Violence in the Modern Middle East".

The main purpose of this collaborative project is to develop an
Anglo-German research group to produce original research on urban
violence in the Ottoman, Arab and Iranian worlds in the 19th and 20th
centuries. The main academic objective of this project is to
investigate the emergence and different forms of public violence in
selected Ottoman, Arab and Iranian cities from the early 19th century
to the 1960s in a wide geographical setting which stretches from
Tunisia to Iran, and to integrate the findings into discussions on
urban violence which were developed with regard to other world
regions, thus contributing to a globally comparative understanding of
the phenomenon. The historical context of this investigation is
provided by processes of Ottoman and Qajar reform in the 19th century
and the consolidation of nation states after the First World War, a
period characterised by both urbanisation and state centralisation.
The central proposition of the project is to study cities as the
‘landscapes’ of contestation between imperial subjects and rulers on
the one hand, and between citizens and states after the First World
War on the other. The aim is to develop a coherent framework of
analysis in order to understand the crucial relationship between
political and social protest, the evolution of the urban public sphere
and the physical expansion of urban centres.

The overarching themes of the project which will inform its
comparative framework are:

• manifestations of violence as the expression of changes in urban
governance and in the wider political environment with reference to
both indigenous and external factors. Of relevance here is what
episodes of urban violence tell us about changes in the urban public
sphere during the period of reform of the Ottoman and Qajar empires
and in the age of nation states, and how these changes reflected wider
trends across the region and European or western influences;

• physical and symbolic violence as a ‘ritual of power’ and a ploy for
popular and state legitimacy in the context of street politics, the
enforcement of the ‘rule of law’ through state agencies, political
propaganda, ritual performance and public ceremonial;

• relationship between episodes of violence and processes of
urbanisation. In what ways do episodes of violent protest relate to
the transformation of the physical landscape of the city and to
changes in the specific settings of popular contestation and state
action?

One of the doctoral researchers should be able to demonstrate a
background in Iranian history and work on urban violence in Qajar
Iran, with a comparative view to the Ottoman Empire, while the second
will be asked to investigate urban resistance in Saudi Arabia between
the 1920s and 60s. Both researchers will also be asked to co-organise
and participate in the joint activities of the research group.

PREREQUISITES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Applications outlining the necessary disciplinary (history, political
science) and linguistic qualifications should contain a letter of
motivation, CV, copies of the relevant university diplomas, a sample
of academic writing (e.g. parts of MA thesis) and a letter of
recommendation by one university instructor. They will be reviewed
from October 10, 2010, until the positions are filled. The application
should be submitted in
paper, by fax or by E-mail in German, English or French to

Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) Berlin
Attn: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Freitag and Dr. Nora Lafi
Subject: “Urban Violence”
Kirchweg 33
14129 Berlin, Germany
Fax +49 (0) 30 - 80 307-210
E-mail: zmo at rz.hu-berlin.de and nora.lafi at rz.hu-berlin.de

For information on the ZMO in Berlin please visit: www.zmo.de

The successful applicants will receive a monthly salary on the basis
of TvöD 13(65%).

_______________________
Zentrum Moderner Orient
Kirchweg 33
14129 Berlin
Telefon: 030/80307-0 Fax: 030/80307-210
Email: zmo at rz.hu-berlin.de
Internet: www.zmo.de