Doctoral fellow - Department of History

Organisation/Company Ghent University Research Field Cultural studies » Other History » Modern history Sociology » Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 17 Aug 2026 - 21:59 (UTC) Country Belgium Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Department LW03 - Department of History

Degree Master in History

Occupancy rate 100%

Vacancy type Research staff

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, and technical and social services on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities. With each of its 11 faculties and more than 100 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes that are grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its employees as well as its students.

YOUR TASKS

You will conduct academic research in preparation of a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation fits in the research project ‘Language Struggle:
National Movements in the Streets of Belgium, 1951–1993’.
Historians have established that Belgium’s national cleavage has generated far less collective action than either its ideological-religious or socio-economic cleavages. However, this view of relatively weak nationalist mobilisation is largely based on analyses of the period before 1950. In doing so, historians have often overlooked the years between the Royal Question and the Saint Michael’s Agreement, a period marked by several intense waves of nationalist agitation.

Flemish, Walloon, Brussels Francophone, and Belgian nationalists took to the streets to advance their demands, and these mobilisations frequently resulted in confrontations. Both domestically and internationally, this agitation became known as the “language struggle,” although it encompassed much more than linguistic issues alone. It was only with the federalisation of the Belgian state that these conflicts gradually subsided.

To date, a comprehensive and systematic analysis of this “language struggle” remains lacking. The aim of this project is to address this gap. The researcher (doctoral scholarship holder) will systematically map nationalist agitation in post-war Belgium, focusing on aspects such as the spatial and temporal distribution of collective action, mobilisation strategies, underlying networks, interactions between different movements, and the repertoires of contention employed.

Such a comprehensive analysis has only recently become feasible owing to the accessibility of newly available archives from the Belgian police services and the emergence of new techniques for the systematic processing of (digital) source corpora. These developments make it possible to compile a consistent dataset for the systematic study of nationalist agitation. Computational methods - such as GIS mapping, network analysis, and corpus linguistics - allow researchers to identify patterns and systemic trends that would remain invisible through traditional close reading alone.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• The candidate holds a Master’s degree in History or another Master’s degree demonstrating a clear interest in historical research. Candidates who have submitted their Master’s thesis this summer are also encouraged to apply;
• The candidate has experience with qualitative and/or quantitative socio-historical research methods. Experience in the systematic processing of large source corpora is considered an asset;
• The candidate is familiar with the recent history of Belgium;
• The candidate is familiar with methods from the digital humanities or is willing to acquire such expertise;
• The candidate demonstrates excellent research qualities, including intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, accuracy, independence, and the ability to work effectively within an interdisciplinary team;
• The candidate has an excellent…