Application and Residency Conditions 2024-25
Two major reasons led to the creation of an Albert O. Hirschman Chair at Iméra in Marseille. The first reason is an act of recognition considering the historical role that Albert Hirschman played in Marseille between 1940-41. He was the deputy to Varian Fry, who led the American Rescue Committee. Hirschman contributed to the rescue of hundreds of individuals who needed to be evacuated and leave Europe in the face of Nazism, starting from Marseille. The second reason for the establishment of the Hirschman Chair is his eminent scientific role. As a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Hirschman is a global scientific authority in his field and an original thinker in the field of social sciences. He notably wrote Passions and Interests which is why it was decided to focus this chair on identity passions between Europe and the Mediterranean.
Hirschman embodies an open and fully interdisciplinary approach to thought. Based on his historical experience and civic engagement, he invites us to remain vigilant in the face of the rise of identity passions between Europe and the Mediterranean. Through his journey as an economist and social science researcher, and particularly in his two masterpieces, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty and The Passions and the Interests, he establishes a close connection between economics and politics. Albert Hirschman reminds us that economics and social sciences are equally concerned with the search for laws as they are with the search for meaning.
Research themes of the Albert Hirschman Chair, within the framework of relations between Europe and the Mediterranean, include:
- Studies of collective passions
- Studies of national and identity movements
- Studies of social and political behaviors
- Studies of protest mobilizations
- Studies of mobility, migrations, and their societal impacts
- Studies of politico-religious movements, particularly focused on Islam
- Studies of political forms, including democratic fragilities
- Cross-cutting studies…
Deadline: October 16, 2023 at 1:00 pm (french time)
Duration of residence: 5 months
Residence period: February 10, 2025 to July 4, 2025
The Albert Hirschman Iméra Chair is open to researchers with proven scientific excellence in one of the research areas related to political economy and the social sciences of politics.
To be eligible, candidates should:
- Hold a doctorate or PhD;
- Not have resided in France for more than 12 months in the three years preceding the call for applications;
- Have an employment contract (permanent or not) in a foreign university or research institution during the residency.
The chairholder will receive a 3,000 euros fixed monthly allowance during their stay.
They will also benefit from paid travel expenses and free accommodation on Iméra premises.
The criteria used by an international multi-disciplinary jury to evaluate the applications are, but are not limited to:
- Researcher’s scientific excellence as per the highest international standards in the field;
- Scientific quality of the project, in particular its cross-disciplinary facet, crucial for the researcher’s integration into Iméra’s collective thinking dynamics;
- Researcher’s ability to carry out prospective reflection;
- Researcher’s international recognition.
Online applications must include the following supporting documents:
- A duly completed application form (mandatory fields);
- All the following files (to download):
- A curriculum vitae including a list of publications;
- A presentation of the project (maximum 5 pages) followed by a selective bibliography (compulsory for researchers);
- A letter of support from an Aix-Marseille University researcher or associate/assistant professor.
A founding member of Iméra, Sciences Po Aix is a training and research institution that is part of the network of major schools of political science, which supports numerous cooperation projects with other scientific operators in the territory, and first and foremost with Aix-Marseille University. The two institutions recently created, in partnership with the CNRS, a brand new research unit, the Mediterranean Center for Sociology, Political Science and History (MESOPOLHIS UMR 7064). In addition, thanks to an agreed partnership, some of the teacher-researchers at Sciences Po Aix deploy their research activities within the Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE) and the International, Comparative and European Rights laboratory (DICE, UMR 7318). Sciences Po Aix is also a founding member of the A*Midex Excellence Initiative. This multidisciplinary scientific potential in tune with changes in the contemporary world constantly feeds Sciences Po Aix training, through educational innovation experiences (RSO, BWS programs), partnership chairs or meetings where the latest scientific advances are valued: the cycle of conferences-debates Sciences Po Aix dans la Cité or the Franco-German Forum on the Mediterranean (organized with Iméra, CFAP and the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation).