We offer a four-year full-time PhD-position as part of an NWO-funded VIDI-project which investigates the transformation of democracy in the final quarter of the twentieth century through the lens of media governance. We look for a curious, creative and collaborative historian to provide a crucial piece of that puzzle by investigating the contestation of the public media model from below in the long 1970s.
The Project
Across Western Europe, democracy underwent profound changes during the final decades of the twentieth century. The postwar model of democracy, characterized by institutional trust, social cohesion, and political consensus, came under pressure, giving way to a more fragmented, polarized and contested democratic order.
The postwar democratic order was closely linked to a particular model of media governance, with the public service broadcasting monopoly at its core. But in subsequent decades, debates about the role, organization, and regulation of media became a key arena in which democratic ideals and institutions were contested and (re-)formed. The NWO-funded VIDI project Democracy and the (de-)regulation of the media examines democracy’s contestation and transformation in the final quarter of the twentieth century through the lens of media governance.
Through a comparative Western European perspective, the project investigates how social movements, interest organisations, regulators and policy makers and their conceptions and practices of democracy shaped media governance reform from the 1970s to the 2000s. This enables us to understand the foundations of the liberalized and pluralized media model of the final quarter of the twentieth century and of the regulation of digital media which stand at the heart of concerns about democracy’s crisis today.
Your Role
As a PhD-researcher, you will study the first and crucial phase of the challenge to the postwar model of democracy. You will investigate how social movements, alternative media initiatives, intellectuals and cultural pioneers challenged the institutional and normative foundations of public service broadcasting. These actors offered a stark critique of government control over media based on cultural cohesion, sociopolitical consensus and popular education; and articulated new democratic ideals centring on participation, pluralism, autonomy, and freedom of expression. This contributed to broader transformations in democratic culture and governance – and to subsequent debates on media reform in political and policy circles.
Focusing on the long 1970s, a period marked by contestation of established democratic norms and hierarchies, your research project will analyse how alternative visions on the relationship between media and democracy emerged from below and challenged the public media monopoly. You will trace how and why dominant conceptions and practices of media regulation came under pressure and assess how ideas and practices from below reshaped and influenced public and political debates on media policy.
Through a comparative study of Western Europe, you will therefore investigate interactions between social movements, ideas, and political change. Your research will involve the analysis of archival sources from social movements, alternative media organizations, and intellectuals to understand how democratic concepts and forms of media governance evolved and will be interested in the circulation of ideas, actors, and practices across national borders.
As PhD-researcher, you will be part of the project team with a Postdoc and the Project Leader. The daily supervisor of the PhD-project is Pepijn Corduwener, the Project Leader; co-promotors are Professor Liesbeth van de Grift (International History) and Professor José van Dijck (Media Studies). You will be a member of the section of Political History, at the Department of History and Art History at Utrecht University.
We are looking for a real team player who wants to play an active role in our research community, and who meets the following requirements:
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(R)MA degree in history or a related discipline;
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proven interest in the history of democracy and/or media governance in contemporary Europe;
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professional competence in English and at least one other European language. Additional language competencies are a plus;
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Proven experience with historical research methods and the use of archival sources;
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an interest in working with diverse academic and non-academic stakeholders in a collaborative research environment.
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a fulltime temporary position for 18 months, with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
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a working week of 36 - 40 hours and a gross monthly salary between € 3.059 and €3.881 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
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8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
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a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.
In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.
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For more information about this position, please contact the project-leader of the VIDI-project, dr. Pepijn Corduwener at [email protected]
Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.
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To apply, please send via the 'apply now' button.
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your curriculum vitae
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a research proposal of max. two pages that serves as starting point for the interview in which you indicate relevant potential questions, case studies and source material based on the project description above
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a writing sample in the form of either your MA-thesis or an MA-research paper that demonstrate your experience with primary sources research
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the names and contact details of two references;
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a motivation letter of max 1 page.
The interviews are taking place over two rounds, on 15 and 21 September 2026, in Utrecht.
