“Gender and Cooperative Labour”

Postdoctoral position in Sociology (Qualitative Methods)

Research project

The WE-COOP project shifts our traditional androcentric perspective on workplace democracy by investigating the labour experiences of women in worker cooperatives. Studied for their high potential in the democratisation of labour relations, worker cooperatives have been systematically considered only from the perspective of class struggles. WE-COOP explores how and why worker cooperatives are also a locus where yet unexplored sets of representations, practices and justifications pertaining to women’s emancipation and gender equality at work are produced.
Focusing on France as a case study, the project relies on a multi-layered survey of worker cooperatives as well as on rare forms of all-women cooperative experiments. It combines quantitative and qualitative methods with innovative participatory research in four incremental steps, allowing for the appropriation by women workers of their narratives and struggles.
More info: www.we-coop.eu

Job description & Role

The postdoctoral researcher will join Phase 2 of the WE-COOP project, dedicated to a qualitative and participatory study involving women workers in production cooperatives (SCOPs) in France. Drawing on radical feminist epistemologies, the study aims to collect a series of interviews as oral archives of gendered experiences of workplace democracy, understood broadly as the production and reproduction of social life. Several case studies
will be conducted as part of a travelling fieldwork project.

How to apply?

Please send the following documents (in English or French) in a single PDF via e-mail to Jun.-Pr. Ada Reichhart
(areichhart@unistra.fr) with "WE-COOP application" in the subject line:

1. Letter of motivation describing your profile, your interest in the position and the overall project, and
   ideas about how your research interests connect with the aims of the project.
2. CV detailing your education and career path, language skills, publications and the contact information for
   2 references who may be contacted during the recruitment process.
3.  Two writing samples sole author (can be work in progress).

Please submit these documents by 15 December 2025.
We will consider all applications that meet these requirements.
Informal enquiries about the position are welcome: Prof.-Jun. Ada Reichhart (areichhart@unistra.fr).