“Before Copyright” examines the long-term history of printing privileges from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The intimate relationship between legal frameworks and the politics of knowledge is the primary focus of the project.
For this postdoc position, we are looking for a specialist of early modern Britain, France, or Spain (including any colonies or overseas territories). The proposed project should engage explicitly with the entangled history of the privilege system, paying attention to synergies, dependencies, and interferences in the circulation of knowledge within or beyond institutions. Possible areas of interest might include forms of resistance to the system or debates about printing privileges between philosophers, lawyers, scientists, in newspapers, academic journals, pamphlets, etc. Project proposals with a focus on the Age of the Enlightenment are preferred; however, applicants should have an interest in the long-term development of the privilege system from its inception to its demise.
The position is available for a period of 25 months. There is a 10 % component of the position which is devoted to teaching and administrative duties. The expected start date for the position is between August and October 2023.
Read more about the position and qualification requirements here.
Application Deadline: 30 March 2022