Ph.D fellowship, Ghent University, Dept. of Sociology, Center for Social Theory, Belgium
Ph.D fellowship, Ghent University, Dept. of Sociology, Center for Social Theory, Belgium
"The construction of social classification schemata: occupational statistics in Belgium, Great-Britain and the United States"
Since the nineteenth century, both Europeans and Americans have become "calculating people". Numerous statistics now inform us about both the social realities they strive to measure and the constructs which organize that measuring. Administrative statistics from the nineteenth and twentieth century are doubly precious documents about the social world they mean to describe: precious for the figures they provide, and precious for their structures or forms, which are traces of the intentions and conflicts that presided over their production.
By means of a case-study, this research project aims to study the genesis of administrative statistical categories that organize our observations and representations of the social world. The focus of this research project is on the history of occupational and educational statistics. The approach is comparative. Three countries will be
studied: Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain (England and Wales). The research is aimed to result in a Ph.D. dissertation.
The position will be open to candidates with a sociological, philosophical and/or historical degree. We initially offer a contract for 12 months; after a positive evaluation, the contract will be renewable up to a total period of 4 years (48 months). The starting date is negotiable, but it can be no later than 1 October 2010. The net salary will be approx. 1700 - 1800 € per month. Info contact:
Raf.Vanderstraeten@Ugent.be
"The construction of social classification schemata: occupational statistics in Belgium, Great-Britain and the United States"
Since the nineteenth century, both Europeans and Americans have become "calculating people". Numerous statistics now inform us about both the social realities they strive to measure and the constructs which organize that measuring. Administrative statistics from the nineteenth and twentieth century are doubly precious documents about the social world they mean to describe: precious for the figures they provide, and precious for their structures or forms, which are traces of the intentions and conflicts that presided over their production.
By means of a case-study, this research project aims to study the genesis of administrative statistical categories that organize our observations and representations of the social world. The focus of this research project is on the history of occupational and educational statistics. The approach is comparative. Three countries will be
studied: Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain (England and Wales). The research is aimed to result in a Ph.D. dissertation.
The position will be open to candidates with a sociological, philosophical and/or historical degree. We initially offer a contract for 12 months; after a positive evaluation, the contract will be renewable up to a total period of 4 years (48 months). The starting date is negotiable, but it can be no later than 1 October 2010. The net salary will be approx. 1700 - 1800 € per month. Info contact:
Raf.Vanderstraeten@Ugent.be