About this role
Interested in understanding how communities try to access their rights and seek justice in the city? Keen to test your qualitative research skills and try out experimental methods? Then apply for this PhD project which will explore how urban residents and civil society groups defend, shape and reinvent the rule of law from below in their interactions with municipal authorities. Rule of Law from below- urban rights and justice mobilization In the wake of global trends of democratic backsliding, many are concerned with the resilience of the democratic rule of law including in The Netherlands. Studies focusing on formal institutions at the national level point to weak safeguards protecting the independence of courts, declining democratic oversight, and insufficient protection of fundamental rights. Significant groups of citizens, particularly those in vulnerable situations who rely most on state support to enjoy their rights and dignity, are losing trust in government institutions to deliver on their promises. While trust in local institutions in Amsterdam is higher, this is lower among city residents with a migrant background and/or in socioeconomically weaker positions. Cities can play an important role in defending the rule of law and protecting and realizing the rights of citizens . Research on human rights cities and urban governance has shown how actors inside local governments refer to international human rights norms, for instance to justify local policies that extend protection to vulnerable groups beyond national law or policy or to develop more participatory forms of decision-making. Cities have also been found to promote human rights and democratic values through transnational city networks. Yet while we know how cities may try to institutionalise human rights, we know much less about how non-state actors - particularly those at the grassroots and most marginalized - experience and interpret the rule of law in their ever...