PhD Position - Structural Injustice and Social Cohesion

Are you eager to pursue a PhD in philosophy in an interdisciplinary context? Do you want to explore how societies can address structural injustice without deepening polarization? Join SOCION project Repairing Injustice Without Breaking Bonds!

Your function

This PhD project Repairing Injustice Without Breaking Bonds: Structural Injustice and Social Cohesion examines how societies should address structural injustice without damaging the social relations required for collective action. Building on philosophical theories of structural injustice and moral responsibility, it investigates who ought to bear forward-looking responsibilities for unjust social structures and how accountability for meeting such responsibilities can be exercised without generating backlash or fragmentation. Empirical work plays a supporting role, using experimental studies to test how different responsibility assignments affect cooperation under conditions of inequality. The project develops a justice-centred framework that contributes to SOCION’s research on social cohesion.

This project integrates philosophical theories of responsibility with sociological and economic analyses of social structure. Structural injustice theorists, such as Iris Marion Young and Sally Haslanger, argue that injustices arise not from identifiable wrongdoing but from systems of norms, rules and resource distributions that systematically expose certain groups to domination and deprivation. These structural injustices shape social relationships, trust and solidarity, often fracturing social cohesion. At the same time, recognizing structural injustice can also foster cross-group solidarity and collective action.

The project aims to develop an interdisciplinary framework for:

1. identifying who bears forward-looking responsibilities for addressing structural injustices
2. determining how to hold individuals accountable in ways that do not erode social cohesion
3. empirically examining how different responsibility assignments affect cooperation within unequal social networks

Through primarily normative analyses, which are supplemented by experimental methods, the project will produce a conceptual and empirical foundation for designing responsibility practices that help repair injustice without breaking social bonds.

Supervision

The supervisors of the PhD will be:
dr. Philip Robichaud, Philosophy, VU Amsterdam (First supervisor)dr. Daniel Redhead, Sociology, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (Second supervisor)

Your duties

• gaining in-depth knowledge of the philosophical literature on structural injustice, moral responsibility and social cohesion
• developing, together with your supervisors, key components of the project, including normative analyses, experimental designs and research papers
• participating in the Ethics group at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• contributing to the interdisciplinary integration of philosophical and sociological perspectives within SOCION
• designing and conducting experimental studies on responsibility attribution and cooperation under conditions of inequality
• presenting your research at academic conferences and interdisciplinary workshops
• publishing in international peer-reviewed journals and completing a PhD thesis
• actively participating in SOCION’s research meetings, training activities and collaborative events
• taking relevant courses within the Graduate School to meet the requirements for obtaining a PhD
• contributing to teaching in the ethics group (max 10% of your time)

Your profile

• MA/MSc degree in Philosophy or a related field; interest in, and ideally some familiarity with Sociology
• Interest in the topic of social cohesion and in collaborating in a broad research consortium with academic and non-academic stakeholders
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research, including analytic and theoretical dimensions
• Professional competence of English
• Eagerness to integrate theories and research findings from two fields (Ethics/Political Philosophy and Sociology) in the research project
• Strong academic record in contemporary analytic Ethics, Political Philosophy or Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) as evidenced by grade transcripts and relevant coursework
• Affinity with and/or training in the field of Sociology and/or quantitative/formal methods is considered a bonus
• We look for team players who want to play an active role in an inter- and transdisciplinary research community and training programme

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

• a salary of € 3.059,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
• an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.
• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting expenses
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge
• good growth opportunities

About us

This PhD project is part of the SOCION consortium. SOCION addresses a pressing challenge of our time: fragmentation in societies. Social cohesion is society’s fabric and is key to sustainable societies and citizens’ well-being. However, it is increasingly undermined by erosion and polarization between communities, factions, and groups. In this project, psychologists, social historians, demographers, philosophers, and sociologists collaborate with civic organizations to generate and integrate insights into how connections between individuals, groups, and institutions contribute to new pathways to and forms of social cohesion.

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

The faculty consists of nine academic departments within three schools: School of Religion & Theology (SRT), School of Social Sciences (SSc) and School of Humanities (SH).

Are you interested in joining Social Sciences and Humanities? You become part of a dynamic academic community with approximately 900 staff members, over 5,000 regular students and more than 5,000 course participants. In an inspiring and collegial environment, we work together on education and research with impact.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet.