Stud. Assistant (41 hours/month) limited to December 31, 2025 for the duration of the project

Identification: SHK RAM Prof. Viola

Application deadline: January 29, 2024

About the Cluster of Excellence SCRIPTS

The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” is a research consortium that analyses the contemporary controversies about liberal democracy and the market economy. The term “liberal script” relates to a set of ideas and institutional prescriptions about how society is organised based on the core principle of individual self-determination. The main purpose of SCRIPTS is to understand why the liberal model of order has fallen into crisis despite its political, economic, and social achievements.
SCRIPTS has been operating since 2019 and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) until the end of 2025. The Cluster is hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin and unites eight major Berlin-based research institutes. Cluster research teams are made up of doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and professors from social, political, and area studies. SCRIPTS is well connected with research institutes and knowledge exchange partners throughout the world, including political and cultural organisations, as well as civil society actors. In addition, SCRIPTS brings renowned visiting scholars from all over the world to Berlin.

About the Research Project
The Race and Multilateralism (RAM) project examines how multilateralism, an institutional form of international cooperation central to the liberal international order, has played a role in creating, restoring, or overcoming the racialized nature of that order. This project examines the relationship between race as a constructed category and multilateralism as an institutional form along three lines of inquiry: first, how the structure of multilateralism as an institutional form, particularly in comparison to imperialism, constructs "racial" exclusions and hierarchies; second, the political output of multilateral institutions (e.g. agreements, international law decisions, conventions, etc) in relation to "race" will be examined to understand how multilateral institutions have regulated meanings of "race" and to explain why these have changed over time; third, the diversity policies of staff and leaders within multilateral organizations will be examined to understand how practices of representation influence decision-making and institutional legitimacy. The project is based on an interdisciplinary and historical approach. The project is embedded in a larger research agenda concerned with historicizing the design and development of multilateralism as an institutional form.
The selection is done according to the SCRIPTS Diversity Rules & Guidelines: https://www.scripts-berlin.eu/about-us/Diversity

Job Description

The student assistant supports the scientific work of the post-doc and the project leader, in particular in the following areas:

• supporting with the collection, analysis, and managing of data related to the policy output of multilateral international institutions
• supporting with bibliographic research and literature searches
• support in the scientific conception and monitoring of a workshop with international participants
• supporting with academic editing services for project publications

Desirable:
• Applicants with good English skills, IT skills, and an interest in academic research.
• Applicants studying in the fields of political science, international relations, global history, or international law.
• Applicants with a substantive interest in the RAM project, including post-colonialism and (anti-)racism.
• Applicants with quantitative or qualitative research skills related to data collection and analysis, such as content analysis, archival research, process tracing, or interviewing.
We value diversity and welcome all applications — independent of gender, nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity. Applications from women and persons with a migration background are especially welcome. Applications from people with a recognized disability status will be considered preferentially.

For further information, please contact Frau Prof. Dr. Lora Anne Viola (lora.viola@fu-berlin.de / 838 52852).

Application details

Applications including 1) curriculum vitae, 2) cover letter, 3) transcripts should be sent electronically in a pdf file to the attention of Prof. Lora Anne Viola at politics@jfki.fu-berlin.de.

We value diversity and welcome all applications — independent of gender, nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity. Applications from women and persons with a migration background are especially welcome. Applications from people with a recognized disability status will be considered preferentially.