Contrat doctoral MITI M/F

Job Description

Thesis Subject

As a growing number of forcibly displaced people find refuge in countries neighbouring their region of origin, cities in the Arab world, due to their geographical location, find themselves on the front lines of these dynamics. Today, the spatial dimension of asylum—already studied in refugee studies—is increasingly being taken into account. However, space is often treated as a mere receptacle for migration trajectories rather than a structuring dimension of experiences of settlement, negotiation, and urban transformation. This research therefore proposes to start with space to better understand practices of settlement, thereby examining what spatial transformations reveal about social reconfigurations and power relations embedded in the built environment. The scale of the residential unit—specific to the realm of the intimate and the domestic, yet central to the lived experiences of urban migrants—will be a major focus of this work. As the architectural entry point for the investigation, this space is often opaque from the outside, allowing for withdrawal, transformation, and repurposing of uses. Starting from this interior will thus reveal dynamics that are not readily visible—such as the subdivision of rooms, the superimposition of functions, or vertical stratification—which call into question social positions within the same building. The challenge will be to articulate the architectural scale with the street, the neighbourhood, and the city, in order to construct a multi-scalar reading of the process of urban fabric from its margins, where the strategies for establishing roots of many migrant communities take shape. Added to this is the idea that informality constitutes a mode of spatial production, carrying its own social and political logics. Transposed into urban contexts in the Global South, it constitutes both a material framework for reception and a terrain for the expression of a lived right to the city exercised through processes of spatial transformation. In this context, the aim is to recognize migrants as agents of urban production rather than as passive recipients of aid, thereby enabling a shift from the “crisis management” approach of public policies toward a recognition of migrant knowledge. Methodologically, the research will employ tools from architecture (field surveys of inhabited spaces, drawings, and sensitive mapping) in addition to those specific to anthropology and geography. These visual methodologies facilitate both the initiation of inquiry through observation and the co-construction of knowledge and engagement with the people involved in the field, as well as an alternative presentation of the results. The city of Beirut, characterized by a long and layered history of migrant presences (Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian, Sudanese) and the physical porosity between camps and the urban fabric, offers a field particularly revealing of all these dynamics. The issue of internally displaced persons since the fall of 2024 raises questions about the reconfiguration of spaces of refuge. Fieldwork is planned in Cairo with the same groups of refugees (Syrians and Sudanese). The diversity of communities generates spaces for cohabitation, encounter, and the interweaving of narratives. The mapping of these interactions will explore the interplay between interior and exterior, visibility and seclusion, verticality and horizontality.
Ultimately, this research aims to foster a dialogue between situated knowledge and urban planning frameworks in relation to the migration issue, recognizing that the margins constitute spaces that reshape practices of dwelling and the modalities of urban making.

Your Work Environment

The successful candidate will be part of Doctoral School 624 “Social Sciences” at Université Paris Cité. They will be affiliated with UMR 8245, the Migration and Society Research Unit (CNRS, IRD, Université Paris Cité, Université Côte d'Azur). URMIS is a multidisciplinary unit specializing in research on migration, interethnic relations, racism, discrimination, and power relations. It comprises research teams based in Paris and Nice; this doctoral contract is affiliated with the unit's Paris site. The doctoral program will also be hosted at the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO). The IFPO is part of the network of French research centres abroad (IFRE) and reports to the MEAE, the MESRE, and the CNRS. It has a presence in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, and Syria. The Institute is a centre for study and scientific research in all fields of Near Eastern civilizations—ancient, modern, and contemporary. It hosts researchers and doctoral students at its various branches.
The doctoral program is co-supervised by Nicolas Puig (Anthropologist, Research Director at IRD, URMIS) and Kamel Doraï (Geographer, CNRS Research Director, Director of IFPO).

Constraints and risks

The successful candidate will be required to conduct fieldwork in Lebanon and/or Egypt. These assignments must be carried out in accordance with relevant regulations and subject to the approval of the CNRS security officer.
During these assignments, the successful candidate will be hosted either at the IFPO in Beirut or at the CEDEJ in Cairo.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions