• You will be using digital methods (eg. TCAT, Zeeschuimer, YouTube Data Tools) to explore how followers of far-left anticapitalist views are creating content, forming organizations, and spreading political messages through new media content genres (memes, short-form video, podcasts, conspiracy theories).
• You will produce data visualizations, map issue networks, and provide general “lay of the land” of the digital political subculture of anti-imperialist Marxism-Leninism, sometimes called “tankies.”
• Along with the PI, you will develop theoretical approaches to how politics and digital culture blend in digital environments through brainstorming, discussion, and potentially through original writing.
• We will meet every one or two weeks.

• You are a graduate student (MA/rMA/PhD)
• You are organized and a good communicator in English
• You understand how to use Digital Methods tools provided as part of the UvA Digital Methods Initiative to produce empirical research
• You possess an up-to-date knowledge of new media content genres on social media (eg. memes, viral content)
• You are fluent in the functioning of popular social media platforms (eg. YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook), as well as more niche/underground spaces (eg. 4chan, Discord, Rumble)
• You have exposure to theories and methods of research on new media and digital culture
• You are creative, with the initiative to make your own connections and follow your own hunches about where investigations might lead
• Knowledge of far-left anticapitalist political content online (eg. Chapo Trap House, Jacobin Magazine, anticapitalist influencers and journalists) a plus
• Knowledge of Marxist theory, histories of socialism/communism a plus
• Knowledge of communist/anti-imperialist/Marxist-Leninist theory/history/organization a big plus!

What else we offer you

We will work closely on producing academic work: papers, presentations, and eventually a book project. Other possibilities include organizing symposia, guest lectures, and presenting at conferences.

We aim for a preferred starting date of March 15th, 2026. The contract will be for a period of 12 months.

You will be working on a project by a researcher in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam, the top-ranked media studies department in the world. While working under dr. Mueller, you will be part of a large, dynamic network of researchers and educators in the New Media team, including designers of digital methods tools, that produces cutting-edge research on issues central to digital society and culture. The environment is international, interdisciplinary, collegial, creative, and highly collaborative.