The project explores un/deservingness as a key and ascending mode of reshaping inequality within the contemporary transformations of European societies. Its aim is to understand un/deservingness registers in their varieties, similarities, and contrasts in three highly contested socio-economic fields, guided by the overall research question: How do claims and debates of un/deservingness play out with regards to citizenship, redistribution, and gender regimes? The project will apply a set of triangulated methods including ethnographic fieldwork, qualitative interviews, and critical discourse analysis. The fieldwork in each case will take particular contestations as the empirical entry point from which to reveal and reconstruct different configurations and genealogies of un/deservingness on different scales (municipalities, cantons, companies, biographies, etc.). The project consists of three Subprojects (Switzerland, Austria and Hungary). 

The 4-year project is headed by Prof. Dr. Jelena Tosic and co-coordinated by Dr. Andreas Streinzer (PostDoc) and is based on a cooperation with Prof. Dr. Violetta Zentai (Center for Policy Studies, CEU, Budapest). 

The essential duty will be to develop, write and submit a PhD dissertation at the University of St.Gallen based on the research in the subproject “Productive families and capable mothers: Un/deservingness in Hungarian family policy“, conducted in cooperation with Prof. Violetta Zentai, (CEU, Budapest). The project focuses on the re-organization of family policy in Hungary (in particular after 2010) and its ideological underpinnings (“proper” deserving family, gender-conservatism, nationalism etc.). It will explore ideals and practices of redistribution of resources (such as welfare, tax benefits, mortgage support and resources) in middle-class households in contrast to households of disadvantaged, low-educated, precarious and racialized minorities, and households headed by women (often divorced/single parents) caring for children, elderly, disabled, and sick family members and/or working as carers abroad. The research will include 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Hungary, with Budapest as the main field site. In addition to writing her PhD-Thesis, in the post-fieldwork stage the PhD student will be expected to contribute to project outputs (conference papers, edited volume and peer-reviewed publications etc.). Apart from the fieldwork project phase, the research will be based at the University of St. Gallen (residence/work permit, office, regular project meetings, pursuit of the PhD).

The candidate holds a Master’s degree in social/cultural anthropology, ethnology, sociology, geography or other relevant discipline. She/he provides over knowledge and experience in qualitative research and ethnographic fieldwork. Prior engagement with the issues of economy, inequality, gender and redistribution are an asset. The PhD student will be able to conduct research within the framework of the overall project and the subproject in Hungary both independently and in team-work. The candidate is fluent in Hungarian. The candidate is fluent/advanced in English and will write her PhD thesis and other outputs in English. The call is open to candidates of any citizenship/nationality background.