Research Fellow (Brazil)

Overview

The Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick is appointing a Research Fellow to work on RAIDS: Religious Authority in Extractive Industry Struggles, a project funded by the European Research Council. RAIDS explores religion as a weapon used by both powerful corporations and marginalised communities in social and ecological struggles over mines and mining infrastructure. It examines the authority and soft-power mechanisms at play in contemporary extractivism and whether extractive industries and religious nationalisms support each other today. Working with communities in existing struggles, it aims to amplify the knowledge of front-line communities, take seriously forms of religious or spiritual activism often dismissed by social science, and support knowledge exchange and solidarity between communities.

The post is full time and fixed term for 24 months from January 2027, on site, to conduct research on religion in extractive industry struggles in Brazil.

Who can apply

The project seeks engaged activist-scholars who can work closely and respectfully with mine-affected communities and support their existing activism. Applicants may propose their own case studies, drawing on existing connections with mine-affected communities, and the case study design is then finalised together as a team.

What you will do

Research covers critical cultural and authority studies of the soft power backing mining corporations, participatory research with mine-affected communities on how they use religious or spiritual practice and wisdom in their struggles, and co-producing analysis and outputs with those communities. The first six months are preparatory, with a literature review, ethics clearance and training in participatory methods. A year of empirical research follows, including participatory observation in each case-study community, co-hosted theory workshops, interviews and online investigative analysis. The final six months focus on outputs, including at least one lead-authored journal article, data packages for each case study, news stories, project website content and a co-authored book, plus future planning.

What you get

The salary is 35,608 to 46,049 GBP per year.

Key dates

The closing date is 5 November 2026.