The “UNESCO frictions” project explores cultural heritage policies in the era of global governance, focusing on their most recent and contentious domain, that of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and in particular its controversial cornerstone, namely, the “participation” of “communities” in heritage identification and selection.

The postdoc will be responsible for a sub-project comprising the Greek arm of the research. He or she is expected to engage in advanced multi-level research within Greek national heritage institutions (in particular the Modern Cultural Assets and Intangible Cultural Heritage Directorate), NGOs and local communities. Together with the principal investigator, the postdoc will select one local-level case study based on his or her suggestions and the relevance of the proposed cases to the project.

The postdoc will be based in Paris for the duration of the contract. He or she will also be required to spend extensive periods conducting fieldwork in Greece.

The candidate will work in collaboration with two other postdocs working on related projects in Brazil and China and will be committed to the overreaching research agenda of the “UNESCO frictions” project. He or she should be willing to engage with local communities, heritage organisations and a range of different stakeholders. Successful candidates will work closely with Greek academic counterparts. Candidates are furthermore expected to disseminate project outcomes and to publish in international journals and with major presses in the field. He or she should be willing to engage with local communities, heritage organisations and a range of different stakeholders. Candidates are furthermore expected to contribute to the project’s organisation and administration.

The successful applicant will have an interest (and preferably research experience) in heritage policies in Greece. Preference will be given to applicants with previous research experience in the anthropology of policy or institutions.