Missions

.This post-doctoral project is part of the Earth Habitability and Fair Transitions Chair headed by Nastassja Martin and housed at the ISJPS. The areas of research currently being developed by the chair concern the implementation of energy transition techniques such as green hydrogen (France, Chilean Patagonia) and the related issue of the critical metals needed for the transition, involving the intensification and/or reopening of mines. The post-doctoral researcher will investigate the wind energy sector in France (with a possible comparative perspective with other countries). The aim will be to carry out a series of ethnographic surveys of workers involved in wind farms in various French regions, both onshore and offshore (St Nazaire, Port-la-Nouvelle, St Brieuc, etc.). Who are these workers, where and how are they trained, and what makes this work attractive (or not)? What stories do they use to describe not only their working conditions, but also their relationship with the wind and the elements to which they are exposed?
Finally, how do they relate to wind turbines, these 'animated machines' that transform a fluid such as the wind into energy, and what imaginaries do they deploy to relate to them? In addition to the ethnographic methodology, a socio-historical investigation will also be needed to grasp the dynamics of wind energy production: we will need to retrace the long history of making human bodies and their physical strength available for production, in an economic and political context that remains resolutely extractivist, despite the greening of the discourse of transition entrepreneurs. Issues relating to the invisibilisation of the workforce, the mobilisation of workers on the move, the undermining of traditional social and family structures and the irregular organisation of working hours will need to be addressed.

Activities

Ethnographic surveys in the selected areas, presentation of the work in the form of a report at the end of each year, papers as part of the seminar organised by the Chair in Earth Habitability and Just Transitions, scientific articles, participation in the Chair's scientific activities and in the organisation of the 2025 conference.

Skills

-be familiar with ethnographic survey techniques and the analysis of field data and interviews
-mobilise current research in scientific and public communications
-be capable of working in a team as part of the Chair in Earth Habitability and Just Transitions
-be fluent in English and Spanish

Work Context

The person recruited will work within the framework of the Institut des sciences juridiques et philosophique de la Sorbonne (ISJPS). The laboratory brings together researchers, lecturer-researchers, associate researchers, post-doctoral students and doctoral students who work together, drawing on their disciplinary expertise, on strategic issues at the heart of our society. The ISPS is jointly supervised by the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Sorbonne Law School) and the CNRS (Institute of Human and Social Sciences, sections 36 and 35). The person recruited will work in close collaboration with the Director of the Chair in Earth Habitability and Just Transitions, Nastassja Martin, and her research team. It should be noted that current partnerships with the Rio Seco Museum of Natural History in Chilean Patagonia and the MUCAM in Santiago will involve the candidate in regular dialogue with Chilean researchers involved in the Chair's project, as well as communicating about his/her research on Chilean platforms.

Constraints and risks

None

Additional Information

The candidate will hold a doctorate in ethnology, anthropology and/or sociology and will already be trained in ethnographic methodologies. She/he will work in collaboration with Nastassja Martin in the environment of the CPJ Chair in Earth Habitability and Just Transitions, and will be housed within the ISJPS. The duration of the postdoctorate is 24 months .