Postdoctoral position in Climate Shaming and Moralizing Politics

The Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invites candidates for a postdoctoral position in Climate Shaming and Moralizing Politics from 1 August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The position is for 3 years
The successful candidate will be part of the research project “Moralizing Politics: The Practice of Judging Others” (MoPo), funded by the European Research Council and led by Professor Christian Rostbøll.

Employment can be offered as postdoc or an assistant professorship. The offer depends on the candidate's profile. The position is fixed term for a minimum of 3 years but may be extended if the position is offered as an assistant professorship. The duration of the employment offered depends on the candidate's profile in relation to the project and the teaching requirements at the department.

You can read an abstract of the MoPo project here. For the full project description, please send an email to tpj656@ifs.ku.dk

Introduction
MoPo investigates the role of moral judgment in contemporary politics, where citizens increasingly judge one another as good or bad people. While this moralization can reinforce democratic accountability, it also risks deepening polarization and hostility. By combining philosophical analysis with case studies on cancel culture, the dignity of work, fake news, and climate shaming, the project explores when the human propensity to judge others is pernicious versus beneficial for democracy.

Job content
This postdoc position will cover one of four cases covered in the MoPo project, Climate Shaming: Responsibility to Human and Non-Human Others. Climate change and the politics surrounding it have provoked a remarkable moralizing politics of judging others and feeling judged. Climate activists blame and shame responsible wrongdoers, and some groups feel that their way of life and occupations are being unfairly targeted. The postdoc is expected to research what it means for climate politics to be moralized and how it affects the ideal functions of deliberative democracy. Climate shaming involves the novel normative theoretical challenge related to ethical concerns of responsibility to and deliberation with or on behalf of non-human others. Both moral philosophy and democratic theory have, until recently, been anthropocentric and have focused on responsibility and deliberation among human beings. However, climate change and its effects on the planet require that we broaden the scope of our moral and democratic concerns beyond the realm of human relationships. The aim of this subproject of MoPo is to combine the broadening of the concern of moral and democratic theory and the analysis of moralizing political struggles over climate change. Thus, the postdoc should investigate whether and how it changes the dynamics of judging and feeling judged, that people are judged not only for how their behavior affects other human beings, but also for how it affects the non-human environment. In line with the overall approach of the MoPo project, the postdoc is expected to apply the method of practice-sensitive reflective equilibrium, combining a qualitative case study of climate shaming with moral philosophy and democratic theory. The candidate should specify their own research within this overall theoretical and methhodological framework. 

Apart from writing on Climate Shaming, the selected candidate will collaborate with the other team members to develop a normative theory concerning the proper place and scope of morally judging others in democratic politics.

Funding is available for conferences and field research, research visits, such that the candidate can develop their international network and research expertise.

Duties and Qualifications
The chosen candidate will be responsible for:

• Individual research and writing on the topic of climate shaming and moralizing politics;
• Co-authoring publications with team members;
• Participating in workshops, conferences, and other scholarly activities;
• Teaching (if agreed to by both parties)

We are seeking to recruit a candidate with the following qualifications:

• A PhD degree in political science, practical/political philosophy, or a related field with a strong emphasis on political theory (required);
• A demonstrated aptitude for doing research in normative political theory (required);
• An interest in democratic practice and in connecting political theory and political science (desired);
• Knowledge of qualitative methods (text analysis, interviews, and ethnographic research) (desired);
• A demonstrated aptitude for research (required);
• Proven skills in academic writing (required);
• A willingness to take on independent responsibilities and work collaboratively as part of a team (required).

Strategy of the Faculty of the Social Sciences
The Department of Political Science is part of the Faculty of the Social Sciences. The Faculty is a successful academic community that strives to put knowledge into action by:

• Engaging partners in the co-creation of knowledge, learning and social change.
• Empowering our students to become reflective and responsible citizens who have the vision, the knowledge and the competences to change society for the better.
• Energizing global, European and Danish communities of knowledge by innovating research methodologies and by research findings with impact

Terms of Employment

• Further information on qualification requirements as postdoc can be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities 2019 here:
  https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit/dokumenter/Ministerial_Order_no._1443_of_11_December_2019_on_Job_Structure_for_Academic_Staff_at_Universities.pdf
• Terms of appointment and salary is in accordance with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
• The salary range starts at DKK 39,200 per month + a 18,7 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

How to apply
Submit a complete application at our online portal. Click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of the page to apply. The documents must be in Adobe PDF or Word. 

Your application must be written in English and include the following documents:

• Cover letter (detailing your motivation and background for applying for the specific postdoc position).

• Project description, detailing how you will conduct the case study within the overall theoretical framework of the MoPo project and ideas for articles (max. 2.000 words, not including references).

• CV
• List of publications
• Diplomas (master and PhD)
• Writing sample (article length)
• Teaching portfolio (if interested in taking on teaching responsibilities). Documentation of teaching qualifications in accordance with the University guidelines for teaching portfolios when appointing academic staff at the University of Copenhagen

The recruitment process
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The Department of Political Science
The Department is a top-ranked European Political Science department, which offers a vibrant, collegial, and pluralist academic working environment for ambitious scholars.

The pluralism of Political Science in Copenhagen is evidenced in the various epistemological and methodological approaches as well as subfields adopted by faculty, and in a wide range of core subjects in the MSc program. 

The Department consists of some 75 faculty members, which currently includes more than 10 tenure-track assistant professors, as well as some 25 Ph.D. students, organized in four main research groups and a few centers. For more on the Department, please consult our webpage:  https://politicalscience.ku.dk/  

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment, and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see: https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/.   

The Department of Political Science has a Code of Conduct expressing our continuous commitment to ensuring a welcoming, inclusive, professional and respectful culture at the Department for Political Science, please see https://politicalscience.ku.dk/code-of-conduct.pdf

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/  

Contact information
For information about the position, please contact mopo@ifs.ku.dk.
Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, email: hr-soendre@hum.ku.dk. Please refer to ID: 211-2485/26-2I.

The closing date for applications is 23:59 [CET] 8 April 2026.
Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.