Postdoc Position in the WEAVE-SNSF Project — The Global Hospital: Reproducing healthcare through entanglements of labour, mobility, and knowledge (Project Consortium)

The Postdoc researcher will be conducting their research within the Subproject C: Dis/entangling routes of labour: Tracing diasporic and recruitment pathways of hospital workers in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Jelena Tosic at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. Subproject C zooms in on diasporic and transnational contexts of lives and livelihoods of reproductive hospital workers. The project begins with an initial 4-month-fieldwork phase in Switzerland and Austria, where the Postdoc researcher joins the research teams of subprojects A (Switzerland) and B (Austria). The main multi-sited fieldwork phase (12 months) will employ multi-sited and mobile ethnography to trace diasporic transnational networks, practices, and recruitment pathways of hospital workers to and from their countries of origin – with a particular focus on the post-Yugoslav region (and including a short fieldwork stay in Colombia). This ethnographic focus includes family, friendship, and professional networks (e.g. educational institutions, former hospital workplaces) to reconstruct not only migration regimes and routes of recruitment but also to understand the educational and social resources, funds of knowledge, and culturally informed valuations of care and maintenance labour from diasporic and transnational perspectives. Additionally, subproject C will also look at for-profit labour migration intermediaries (e.g. professional recruitment agencies, temporary staffing firms, and migration brokers) as key drivers of transnational mobility in the healthcare sector. Subproject C will thereby explore how agencies and hospital workers, institutions and individuals are entangled in various ways (e.g. synergy, competition) as labour and workplace integration brokers. While the postdoctoral researcher will develop their own original research project within Subproject C, led by Prof. Dr. Jelena Tosic, it will be embedded in the pre-defined research framework of the larger collaborative WEAVE-SNSF project. This requires active collaboration with the team and contributions to the overarching research questions and objectives.

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.

• The candidate holds a PhD in Social/Cultural anthropology, Ethnology, Sociology, or a closely related field.

• They have demonstrated knowledge and experience in qualitative research and (multi-sited) ethnographic fieldwork, preferably (also) in the post-Yugoslav region.

• Prior engagement with topics in the field of anthropology of migration – especially with regard to labour and knowledge – is essential, while experience with medical anthropology is considered an asset.

• To facilitate ethnographic fieldwork in the designated regions, proficiency in German and English is required, as well as competence in a post-Yugoslav language. Knowledge of Spanish is an advantage (basic knowledge is acceptable).

• The position is open to candidates of all citizenships/nationalities.

• The position requires residency in St.Gallen, Switzerland (apart from periods of fieldwork and a short guest stay at the University of Vienna), where the Postdoc researcher will actively participate in the work at the Department for Migration Studies.