The DFG-funded collaborative research centre “Re-Figuration of Spaces” (CRC 1265) focuses on the wide-ranging spatial restructuring and new orders created by intensified forms of transnational economic activity, radical changes in political geographies worldwide, the development and proliferation of digital communication technologies and the global increase in the circulation of people and goods since the late 1960s.
Subproject C05: The Urban Microclimate Regime: The Constitution of Spaces and Infrastructures of Heat
Based on a conceptualisation of the city as a critical zone of the Anthropocene, the subproject investigates the reconfiguration of urban spaces associated with microclimatic adaptation strategies. The empirical focus is thus on the current formation of an urban microclimate regime for the purpose of mitigating negative effects of thermal stress on human and non-human life in the city. Based on two intertwined case studies of pioneering cities of microclimatic adaptation, namely Stuttgart in Germany and Fukuoka in Japan, three moments of regime formation are examined from a spatial sociology perspective: first, the problematisation of urban heat, which is related to certain socio-spatial arrangements of heat and affectedness; second, the infrastructuralisation of heat-resilient spaces, which is shaped by material-political strategies and conflicts with existing practices and infrastructures; and third, the translocal circulation of this urban microclimate regime, which reveals variations in the encompassing reconfiguration of spaces. The sub-project thus aims to make a threefold contribution to the research agenda of the collaborative research centre: first, by examining spatial arrangements of heat and affectedness, to explore which spatial figures are suitable for conceptualising current planetary reconfigurations; second, by examining urban microclimatic interventions, to examine how the current climate crisis and climate politics impact on the reconfiguration of spaces; third, to explore local variations of this reconfiguration through the interwoven histories of the case studies.
Opening of Two Doctoral Positions
Tasks
- Scientific services in research in the project “Urban Microclimate Regime”
- Design and conduct of ethnographic research
- Work towards own academic qualification (doctoral dissertation)
- Collaboration with CRC and chair of urban anthropology
- Academic event organisation and communication
- Contribution to project administration
Requisites
- Completed MA studies in European Ethnology/Social and Cultural Anthropology or related fields (ideally with an excellent evaluation)
- Very good knowledge of ethnographic research and/or qualitative methods
- Previous experience and interest in urban anthropology, science and technology studies and spatial sociology
- Very good English language skills (written and oral) as well as in one of the following languages: German or Japanese (for conducting ethnographic research)
More information can be found here. Application deadline: expected 7 January 2022.