Addressing Precarity, Planning the Future - PhD and PostDocMeet Up - in cooperation with SAA-Commission “DocPostDoc”

September 5, 2025, 10:30–16:00

Stefan Binder (UZH), Nina Khamsy (UNINE), Jonas Köppel (UNIBE)

Dr. Carolin Fischer

Building on the successful 2023 workshop on "Anthropologists after the PhD, in and beyond Academia", this event brings together PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in social anthropology to address the issue of structural precarity in academic careers and beyond. Launching the newly founded SAA commission "DocPostDoc," the workshop seeks to facilitate discussion and networking for intermediary staff (PhDs and postdocs) in anthropology with the aim of building a durable and effective infrastructure for exchange and collaboration across universities and departments in Switzerland.

The program will feature an input and workshop segment with Dr. Carolin Fischer, leader of the strategic thematic field 'Caring Society' at Bern University of Applied Sciences, on issues of collective organizing within structurally precarious work environments. The discussion will enable anthropologists to reflect on the question of structural precarity in academia and the possibilities of collective, trade union engagement for social scientists.

The second part of the workshop will coincide with the constitutive meeting and launch of the  SAA Commission. The commission aims to enhance inclusivity and representation of intermediary staff on the SAA board, raise awareness about precarity, strengthen networking, share information, and create spaces for discussion and activities. It will offer space for joint reflection and focused discussion on future organizing among PhD researchers and postdocs. What priorities should we set up for this Commission? What kinds of collaboration, support, or advocacy does the Mittelbau/Corps intermédiaire need in the precarious context of Swiss academia and beyond?

We will consider precarity also in its relation to experiences of racialization, sexism, homo- and transphobia, or ableism, particularly in the context of current pushbacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Finally, we will also discuss possible strategies for responding to the announced federal budget cuts and their anticipated effects on intermediary academic staff and more general questions of academic freedom.

The workshop is intended as an open and interactive space for networking, collective reflection, and mutual support, continuing the conversation on career development, solidarity, and the future of the discipline.

University of Bern

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