Max Planck Institute for European Legal History – Doctoral Positions Offered
The Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt/Main offers in accordance with the conditions of the Max Planck Society for the support of young researchers, and subject to required budgetary appropriations several doctoral research positions within the areas of Legal History and Early Modern/Modern History as of 1st January 2010 or later for the conferral of a doctorate degree in law (Dr. jur.) or Early Modern/ Modern History (Dr. phil.).
These doctoral positions are granted in the context of the interdisciplinary programme of the Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation, Punishment (IMPRSREMEP). The research school aims to attract young researchers educated in law (in particular legal history) or historical sciences. Candidates graduated in the disciplines of history of law, international law and (social) anthropology are invited to apply according to the parallel calls of the partner institutions (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale, in co-operation with the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in cooperation with the University of Freiburg.
The doctoral students will carry out their studies mainly in Frankfurt; and alternatively, historians may graduate at the Technischen Universität Darmstadt. They will participate in the training programme offered by the IMPRS REMEP and can make use of the facilities and infrastructure of the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History. The interdisciplinary curriculum further requires participation in several joint seminars to be conducted together with the doctoral students who are affiliated with the IMPRS
REMEP partner institutes in Halle/Saale, Heidelberg and Freiburg. During these seminars, all students shall achieve cross-disciplinary knowledge in order to develop a common understanding of the overall research agenda and to be able to mutually understand and discuss their doctoral theses from the perspectives of all relevant disciplines. Working language of the training programme and the dissertation is English. According to local university regulations, German language skills may be required in exceptional cases. The scientific supervision of the doctoral students will be carried out by the Max Planck Institute and the University of Frankfurt or the Technische Universität Darmstadt as the case may be. Cross-disciplinary dissertation
projects may be co-supervised by a member of the academic staff from a partner institute.
Dissertation Topics
The research agenda has its focus on the fundamental question common to the disciplines of social sciences and humanities regarding how peace and social order are negotiated, constructed, maintained and re-gained. In particular, in the context of conflict and post-conflict societies, traditional approaches to reconciliation and mediation are being adopted, amending, and – partially – replacing, well-established
systems of punishment mainly based on concepts of retaliation. The doctoral research projects to be conducted in Frankfurt shall focus on topics in the field of legal history like deviance, criminality, conflict, criminal law, and criminal justice during the 16th – 20th century. With respect to the methodological approach field studies focusing on a respective territory/state, period or issue are welcome as well as
comparative studies. Attention should be paid to the question of interaction and interplay between “actors” like the state, society, the legal system, police, social groups and deviant persons. Proposals with the emphasis on a theoretical issue are welcome, too. The analyses should have a distinct reference to the basic question of historical change within the areas of deviance/criminality, criminal law/justice and forms of social control, with regard to historically changing concepts of social order. If possible, an interconnection to current research projects of the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History would be preferable (for example the emergence of national penal law and legal systems as well as forms of international cooperation in the field of criminal law/justice, the history of asylum/sanctuary and extradition, the history of political crime and security-politics).
Applicants are expected to develop their research questions independently, and to specify those in their proposal. Proposals with a comparative perspective and/or an inter-disciplinary approach will be considered with priority.
http://data.rg.mpg.de/REMEP-Ausschreibung_Doktoranden_MIPeR_engl-1.pdf