Doctoral Research Fellow in Political Philosophy (EXPIRED)

A Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) in Political Philosophy is available at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo.

Job description

Global pressure over living and non-living natural resources in Antarctica will mount in the course of the coming decades. Three pressing factors might motivate states to claim exclusive rights to Antarctica: climate change, dwindling natural resources in occupied territories, and the fact that—by virtue of Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty—the question of sovereignty in the White Continent remains unresolved. We are at a unique point in history to influence the ethical dimensions of the decisions that may govern Antarctic claims in the future. What is a fair division of natural resources? Does any nation or group of nations have a privileged territorial claim? How should environmental concerns feature into decisions about territorial rights?

The PhD position is open for projects that investigate the following topics, or related ones, with a view to connecting them to the more specific case of Antarctica and the Antarctic Treaty System:

• normative theories of territorial rights and sovereignty
• normative theories of collective self-determination
• the moral legitimacy of international law and/or its sources
• the spectrum between realism and idealism in political philosophy, and the methodological questions arising from this
• theories that explore the relationship between global justice and resource rights
• normative theories of environmental responsibility and legitimate governance 

The PhD project is part of a three-year research project funded by the Polar Research Programme of the Research Council of Norway: “Political Philosophy Looks to Antarctica: Sovereignty, Resource Rights and Legitimacy in the Antarctic Treaty System”. The main supervisor is Alejandra Mancilla, the project leader. The PhD fellow will be working with an international team of philosophers, political scientists and legal theorists based in Norway, Canada, Chile, Australia, Ireland and the UK.

The person appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to join the existing research milieu or network and contribute to its development.

Further details of the position and instructions for how to apply can be found in the webpage below.