Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Political Thought, South Africa

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Political Thought
A National Research Foundation (NRF) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is on offer for one year (renewable for another) in the Department of Politics, University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. It will be under the mentorship of Professor Lawrence Hamilton, who holds an NRF President’s Award, and will be located within the Department and within the Centre of Political Thought at UJ. The fellowship can be taken up from 1 February or 1 July 2010, and is set at the UJ’s rate for postdoctoral fellowships, currently R160 000 per annum, sufficient to cover living expenses.
The Centre of Political Thought at UJ is a unique environment in South Africa for research in political thought and theory. Existing members of the Centre research on a variety of topics within the history of political thought and political philosophy, including human needs and rights; political judgement; freedom, constitutionalism, poverty and public debt in South Africa; German Idealist political thought; language and politics; 10th century Islamic political thought; the intellectual history of freedom in America; African political thought; and the thought of Rousseau, Sieyès and Marx.
Applicants should not feel, however, that they have to restrict their research proposals to these or cognate areas. The proposed postdoctoral research can be on any topic within the fields of history of political thought, political philosophy or political theory – including research that makes use of empirical analysis and case studies to further the understanding or applicability of a question within political theory. The final choice of candidate will not be influenced by their choice of research topic.
Candidates are only eligible if they have been awarded a doctoral degree within the last five years; and, if they have yet to receive the degree, they must have it in hand by the time they take up the position, or preferably by the end of 2009.
Interested candidates should email their curriculum vitae, the names of three referees, an example of their written (preferably published) work of about 10 000 words, and a one-page summary of their proposed postdoctoral research to Professor Hamilton (lhamilton@uj.ac.za or lah1001@cam.ac.uk) by 30 November 2009

They can also post their applications to:
Professor Lawrence Hamilton,
Department of Politics,
University of Johannesburg,
P.O. Box 524,
Auckland Park,
2006,
South Africa,
making sure they arrive by the deadline. The successful candidate will be informed by the 15 December 2009.