Securing Norwegianness: Imagining threats to a cultural community

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

The terror attacks in Norway 2011, targeting what the perpetrator described as proponents of immigration and multicultural society, created exceptional circumstances for people to reflect on issues of belonging. In this kind of situation, it is assumed that people emphasise their affinity with the affected country. This, in turn, makes the problematisation of the affinities displayed particularly interesting since the act of expressing them even in a very taxing situation indicates their importance. Texts by individuals from ethnic minorities, written soon after the attacks, are analysed in terms of conceptions of ‘Norwegianness’. Results show explicit support for civic values but also multiple expressions of not feeling recognised as part of majority society also from individuals obviously acculturated to Norwegian lifestyles and cultural codes. These expressions are explained in terms of whiteness – non-whiteness and religion.

Nordlit, 2019

This article examines the Norwegian scholarly report titled NOU 2017:2—Integration and Trust: Long-Term Consequences of High Immigration (English translation; chapter 1.1) to unpack how ‘non-European immigrants’ are constructed as an economic and social challenge for the welfare state. Principles from discourse theory (DT) and the conceptual framework of othering are applied to discuss how the designation of this category of people as objects of qualification/integration may serve to reify racialized relations of inferiorized difference between white Norwegian majorities and societal newcomers from the Global South. The author tracks this dynamic to a discourse in which the relationship between the Norwegian state and immigrants from countries outside of Europe is organized as a binary opposition between a vulnerable self and an overwhelming, inherently faceless ‘other’. It is suggested that the othering enabled in the NOU (Norges Offentlige Utredninger) report can be viewed as a sp...

English-language accounts of the Norwegian state describe a welfare state marked by national egalitarianism. This article argues that such an impression is both analytically unsound and misleading, and that its sponsors are in fact doing the work of nationalism rather than doing the political science under whose auspices they publish. The article contrasts such accounts with critiques of the notion of the 'egalitarian Norwegian' in the Norwegian language and with writings on the nationalism of Norway by Norwegian anthropologists. In doing so, it demonstrates how easily social scientists may misinterpret the politics and sociology of other countries when they are represented in international debate by a few centrally placed authors who reproduce the myths of nationhood.

Handbook of Pre-modern Nordic Memory Studies, 2018

What should or should not be remembered as part of a national narrative is determined by those holding the power to mold such decisions. For those wishing to assert their authority and power, winning the battle of how the past is defined can be highly advantageous. An analysis of the workings of power reveals how closely history, memory, and the allocation of identity are connected to the concept of the nation as something permanent and inviolable; as an entity that is meant to be – or is in the process of being – fully realised

De Gruyter eBooks, 2022

Before the Norwegian History Days in 2008, the historian Knut Kjeldstadli from the University of Oslo was challenged by his colleagues in the Norwegian Historian Association, 1 who asked him to hold the lecture "How do we celebrate the nation state in a globalized world?" The reason for this challenge had different motivations. Firstly, many intellectuals and academics had recently criticized the concepts of the nation and nationalism due to an unhealthy form of nationalism that could trigger conflicts and hate throughout the world. Many of these conflicts had been legitimized by historians. Secondly, the time was right for historians to strengthen the emphasis on global topics in connection with the development of globalism in general. Beneath the surface, there was an implicit judgment directed toward historians for concerning themselves with internal affairs within national borders instead of focusing on international relations between nation states or their cultural, economic, and political interconnectedness. 2 The perspective of Kjeldstadli highlights another aspect about which Norwegian historians seem to be ambivalent, namely populism. This article will show how populism and nationalism have previously been linked. This link has materialized largely because of the methodological nationalism used among Norwegian historians, where the emphasis has been placed on ideals from the Norwegian Constitution of 1814, itself based on the US Declaration of Independence. Among the main principles, one of the most important is the paragraph stating that "all men are created equal." 3 In the new Norwegian Constitution, the "people" of Norway are given a heightened position in society. One can rightly speak about a new, more modern perspective on the bearer of the nation, with its connection to the first seeds of democracy, based on the relationship between the people and the nation. This article will try to illustrate the role of historians in the creation of the narrative concerning this relationship. It will also discuss how an ideological alliance between Norwegian

An essay comparing the foreign influences of two documents of Norwegian cultural importance: the Strengleikar collection and the Constitution of 1814. Written for the 'Histories and Cultures of the Nordic Region' course in 2015.

2005

Nordic Journal of Migration Research , 2022

2013

Norwegian national identity is becoming increasingly exclusive as a result of Muslim immigration and that this is a step in the wrong direction. Islamophobia has become a major issue and this can be seen through racist undertones in public discourse in Norway. Racist undertones in public discourse have perpetuated the creation of Muslims as an imagined enemy, yet Norwegian citizens do not recognize this phenomenon. This is important since Norwegians are excluding Muslims from Norwegian national identity as a consequence of public discourse and this is an unrecognized problem. There are multiple responses to the increase of cultural diversity in Norway and to the controversial culture debate in Norway. Actors in the debate are politicians representing the Norwegian Right and Left, scholars, and social commentators. These actors are fighting over issues arising from non-European immigration, such as integration and inclusion policies, multiculturalism, and national identity. Government policies have been set in place to mitigate the debated issues arising from immigration and integration but do not appear to solve the problems facing Norway today.