Doctoral Research Scholarship at South Africa 2007 - 2008 in Political Thought

Doctoral Research Scholarship at South Africa 2007 - 2008 in Political Thought

Application deadline : 14 June 2007

One National Research Foundation (NRF) scholarship is on offer for three years doctoral research in the School of Politics, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa. Dr Lawrence Hamilton, a political philosopher in the school, has recently been awarded the NRF President’s Award for his research achievements, which enables him to fund doctoral and postdoctoral research under his supervision. The Scholarship must be taken up from 1 July 2007. The successful candidate will receive R45,000 per annum, which is sufficient to cover university and living expenses in South Africa, and this can be supplemented by employment within the School of Politics. This scholarship is part of a project to create a Centre of Excellence in Political Philosophy at UKZN.

The doctoral research must, therefore, be on a topic within the fields of History of Political Thought, Political Philosophy or Political Theory. However, the latter in particular can be construed fairly widely to include research that makes use of empirical analysis, case studies, etc, so long as the main focus of the research is on furthering the understanding or applicability of a question within political thought. Applications are therefore also encouraged from students who have an interest in grounding their theoretical analysis in existing political contexts and problems.

Dr Hamilton’s research interests and publications include a book (The Political Philosophy of Needs [Cambridge University Press, 2003 (2007)]) and a number of articles and ongoing research on the state, coercion, popular sovereignty, rights, needs, interests, citizenship, markets, imperialism, civil society, judgment in politics, the French Revolution and representative democracy, the political thought of Hobbes, Rousseau, Sieyès, Hegel, Proudhon and Marx, African political thought, and land reform, public debt and constitutionalism in South Africa. However, applicants should not feel they have to restrict their research to these or cognate areas. Dr Hamilton can supervise research on most topics within the History of Political Thought, Political Philosophy and Political Theory, and the final choice of candidate will not be influenced by their choice of research topic.

Candidates should email their curriculum vitae (CV) and a one-page summary of their proposed doctoral research to Dr Hamilton (hamilton1@ukzn.ac.za) by 14 June 2007. They should also ask three referees to send assessments of their work and suitability for doctoral study by the same deadline.

They can also post their applications to:

Dr Lawrence Hamilton, School of Politics, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa, making sure they arrive by the deadline. The successful candidate will be informed by the 20 June 2007 at the latest.