PhD Position: Protest Music and Polarisation (two positions)

Do you want to examine how music shapes affective polarisation in protest movements? How does it influence emotions, deepen divides, or foster solidarity? By connecting popular music, politics and social movements, you will explore the role of music in public discourse, civic engagement and collective identity amidst political polarisation.

The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures (Faculty of Arts) and specifically the Arts and Culture Expertise Unit at Radboud University in Nijmegen is looking for two highly motivated and talented PhD candidates to join the interdisciplinary research project ’Tuning into Tensions: Music and Affective Polarisation in Protest Movements’ led by principal investigator Prof. Dr Melanie Schiller.

This project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and it is organised around the premise that democracies around the world are under increasing pressure, with affective polarisation posing a challenge to social cohesion. The project asks how music contributes to polarisation processes in contemporary protest movements relating to climate change in the Netherlands. The project aims to bring together the fields of culture and politics and will specifically conduct a comparative analysis of the music associated with Extinction Rebellion Nederland and the Dutch farmers’ protests, representing two opposing sides of the political spectrum.

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct theoretical and empirical research on protest, music and polarisation, focused on either the Dutch Farmers Movement or the Dutch branch of Extinction Rebellion. You and the other PhD candidate will have independent projects but will also collaborate and conduct comparative analyses. Familiarity and ideally experience with theoretical analytical and qualitative empirical methods in the humanities is expected (e.g. textual analysis, fieldwork, interviews). While not mandatory, a background in popular music studies would be preferred. Formal music analysis skills are not strictly necessary. Since the project is interdisciplinary by design, openness to work across the fields of (popular) music and political science as well as related fields is expected.

Your tasks and responsibilities include:

• Submission of a PhD thesis within the period of appointment.
• Participating in meetings of the project research group and workshops with project partners.
• Publishing one single-authored, peer-reviewed article.
• Writing one single-authored and one co-authored chapter for a project publication.
• Presenting intermediate research results at international workshops and conferences.
• Organising knowledge dissemination activities.
• Participation in the Graduate School for the Humanities (GSH)and one of the national research schools in the Humanities, for instance the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA).
• Active participation in the Media, Popular Culture and Social Change Research Group.
• Teaching and co-teaching courses at the BA level and academic service.

Your research will be embedded in the Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH), and you will participate in the Graduate School for the Humanities (GSH). You will devote 75% of your time to the research for and writing of your PhD thesis. The remaining 25% will be spent on training, teaching and academic service to the Faculty of Arts. For additional information, please read the short summary of the project below the vacancy text.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate.

Requirements:

• You hold a completed Master's degree in cultural studies, media and culture, cultural sociology, musicology, International Relations, political science or any other relevant field. If you have not yet completed your Master's degree, you may only apply if you provide a signed letter from your supervisor stating that you will graduate before 1 September 2025.
• You have an affinity with (Dutch) music culture and how it relates to political questions. You are enthusiastic about communicating academic research to non-academic audiences and collaborating with societal partners.
• You have strong organisational and social skills.
• You embrace teamwork and are willing to engage in collaborative research across disciplines, but can also work independently.
• You have an excellent command of English and Dutch: You will write your PhD thesis in English, but a very good command of Dutch is essential as you will conduct research and fieldwork on Dutch music culture.

Salary Benefits:

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (0.8 FTE 5- year contract - 1.0 FTE 4- year contract) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,901 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €€3,707 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

32 - 40 hours per week

Houtlaan 4