Research Assistant Social Change for Sustainability (1.0 FTE)

We are looking for a motivated Research Assistant to assist with the literature review for the development of a theoretical framework for the analysis of mechanisms of societal transformation to sustainability. The position is funded by a NWO Vidi-funded project 'Societal transformation to sustainability through the unmaking of capitalism? A comparative study of radical grassroots innovations', led by Dr. Giuseppe Feola at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University.
 

Modern, capitalist societies engage destructively with the natural environment. Societal transformation to sustainability is urged, but it implies a degree of disruption of capitalist ways of being and doing. Radical grassroots innovations - those that posit a profound cultural, economic, and political transformation of dominant institutions and practices - hold the potential to lead such transformation, but may be constrained by their marginal, local, small-scale character. This project aims to understand to what extent, under what conditions and through what processes radical grassroots innovations unmake modern, capitalist institutions and practices.

This position is an exciting opportunity to engage with theories of transformation to sustainability and to contribute to develop a cutting edge framework to identify and theorize mechanisms of unmaking that are involved in radical grassroots innovations. The Research Assistant will spend most of her/his time searching and critically analyzing Social Science literature for the development of the theoretical framework. It is envisioned that the Research Assistant will co-author one or more academic articles.