PhD-Position Ambizione Project: 'Going Native': Autochthony; Im-Mobility and Uneven

Application and Contact

Applicants should submit their full application (in English), including letter of motivation, CV, examples of their academic work (chapter of the MA Thesis or a published article), copies of relevant certificates and the contact details of two academic references via the following link no later than 02.03.2026.

• Please familiarize yourself with the DOK (Organization Studies and Cultural Theory) PhD-Programme at the HSG (https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).).
• For further inquiry, please send an email to Dr Danaé Leitenberg (danae.leitenberg) and Prof. Jelena Tošić (jelena.tosic).
• The job-interviews will take place in late March 2026 and the recruitment process is expected to be completed by early April 2026.

Project

Description:

In a world of increasing connectivity, both dominant and subaltern populations claim their genuine and primordial belonging to particular places. But what do calls for the preservation of the native identity entail? Why, how and in what context does one foreground nativeness? How do nativist claims emerge, take effect, travel, transform between highly unequal contexts? Based on ethnographic fieldwork, Dr Danaé Leitenberg's SNSF-Ambizione research project 'Going Native' will explore how feeling native and the political project of nativism, arguing for the preservation of autochthony, increasingly shape the reality of a fragmented European continent.

Zooming in on Switzerland and Kosovo, two countries with important entanglements and commitments to autochthony, the research team will interrogate nativism's effects transnationally, exploring how it constitutes a dynamic social process of in-/exclusion that spans borders. This four-year project consists of two subprojects in Switzerland and Kosovo (one led by PI, the other by a PhD). The PhD Student will be supervised by Prof.

Dr Jelena Tošić and Dr Danaé Leitenberg at the University of St.Gallen.

Your Tasks: The PhD student will develop, write and submit a PhD dissertation at the University of St.Gallen (School for Humanities and Social Sciences/ Migration Studies), based on research conducted in the subproject

B) of 'Going Native'.

Subproject

B) investigates Switzerland's changing role in Kosovo, not only as a destination but also as a source of economic opportunity within Kosovo, and how this transformation is shaped by ambiguous nativist ideals and agendas. As an institutional ethnography of the links between nativism and capitalism, this project will look at the growing number of Swiss and/or Kosovar entrepreneurs who draw on nativist imaginaries of Swissness in Kosovo, often with the support of state institutions.

Data will be collected through participant observation and various qualitative interview methods. The research will include 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Kosovo (Pristina).

In addition to writing their PhD-Thesis, in the post-fieldwork stage the PhD student will be expected to contribute to project outputs (conference papers, peer-reviewed publications, special issue, etc.) and the organization of workshops and conferences.

Apart from the fieldwork project phase, the research will be based at the University of St.Gallen (residence/work permit, office, regular project meetings, pursuit of the PhD).

The candidate holds a Master's degree in social/cultural anthropology, ethnology, sociology, geography or other relevant discipline. They provide over knowledge and experience in qualitative research and ethnographic fieldwork. Prior engagement with the issues of mobility/migration and/or nationalism are an asset.

The PhD student will be able to conduct research within the framework of the overall project and the subproject in Kosovo both independently and in team-work.

To facilitate ethnographic fieldwork in Kosovo, proficiency in Albanian is required and a knowledge of German or French is considered an asset. The candidate is fluent/advanced in English and will write their PhD thesis and other outputs in English.

The call is open to candidates of any citizenship/nationality background.

"A place where knowledge is created" - As one of Europe's leading universities of economics and business administration, the University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, is committed to the education of over 10'000 students. The HSG is one of the largest employers in the region and provides an attractive and innovative environment for more than 3'500 researchers, educators and professional staff.