A collective sigh of relief: Local reactions to the establishment of new asylum centers in Norway, 2019
This article investigates a mood change in local communities where new asylum seeker facilities w... more This article investigates a mood change in local communities where new asylum seeker facilities were established in the wake of the "refugee crisis" in 2015. Whereas opinions in flux are often studied using quantitative data, this analysis takes advantage of in-depth qualitative interviews with inhabitants in selected Norwegian local communities after new temporary asylum reception centers were established. Qualitative data collected at this particular time provide the opportunity to gain insight into social processes occurring in the wake of a sudden influx of immigrants. A key feature of the material is statements reflecting fear or nervous anticipation in relation to the period before the newcomers arrived, followed by descriptions of diminishing concern afterwards. Several studies have engaged with the issue of changes in public mood during this particular period, but few have analyzed changes at the local level. The study concludes that while the backdrop of impactful events that led to shifts in public mood at the national and regional levels played a role in informants' imagined encounters with the newcomers , experiencing the presence of the newcomers resulted in a subtle mood change of increased acceptance.
Welcome to Norway! Da flyktningkrisa kom til Norge. , 2017
Denne artikkelen er basert på intervjuer og observasjonsdata samlet inn mens «flyktning-krisen» v... more Denne artikkelen er basert på intervjuer og observasjonsdata samlet inn mens «flyktning-krisen» var i ferd med å gjøre seg gjeldende i norske lokalmiljø. Den tar utgangspunkt i noen av kontaktflatene som oppsto mellom nykommere og fastboende i lokalmiljø som fikk midlertidige mottak i 2015. Analyser av intervjuer med nyankomne og fastboende om livet i og rundt ulike akuttmottak løfter frem betydningen av kontakt, rammebetingelser og ulike holdninger til frivillig arbeid. Artikkelen viser hvordan muligheten til å skape fysiske og sosiale «rom» av normal, menneskelig eksistens og etablere relasjoner på like fot innen-for rammene til mottaksapparatet forstås som betydningsfulle for relasjoner mellom lokal-miljø og nykommere. Både nykommerne som venter og folk i naermiljøet som ønsker å involvere seg, beskriver frustrasjon og mindre muligheter for samhandling på like fot, når byråkratiske regler om likebehandling fører til en opplevelse av at alle blir behandlet like dårlig. Konklusjonen peker på hvordan små fortellinger om hverdagsproblemer og opple-velser kan gi viktig informasjon om opplevelsen av å forholde seg til det norske mottaks-systemet fra ulike perspektiv. Nøkkelord: asyl, flyktning, frivillig, nabolag, lokalsamfunn This article is downloaded from www.idunn.no.
The 2004 EU extension and the 2008 financial crisis triggered new migration flows within Europe, ... more The 2004 EU extension and the 2008 financial crisis triggered new migration flows within Europe, and subsequent debates about what the novelty of these migration flows consists of. We draw on adult Polish and Spanish migrants' in Norway's considerations about future mobility and settlement, and explore how these situate themselves in relation to conceptualisations of intra-European migration as 'liquid'. Family concerns, economic factors and working life conditions in countries of origin appear as significant in migrants' reflections about the future. This seems to contrast with conceptualisations of intra-European migration as 'liquid' in the sense of increasing individualisation, lifestyles of mobility and a migrant habitus. Rather a 'normal life' is emphasised by migrants' underscoring desires to lead more grounded lives, under less 'liquid' conditions. Migrants' already established lives in Norway, together with deregulated labour markets in Poland and Spain, are experienced as reasons not to return. Migrants' considerations about the future suggest that key characteristics of South-North and East-West intra-European migration flows to Norway, appear to be converging: with a trend of transition to longer-term settlement and a wish for more grounded lives, where dignity is central and ongoing mobility is less prominent.
Motivations for migrating within the European Union have mainly been attributed to economic, care... more Motivations for migrating within the European Union have mainly been attributed to economic, career and lifestyle choices. This article suggests that political dissatisfaction is also an important motivator of recent intra-European migration. In our analysis of in-depth interviews with Romanian migrants in Spain and with Spanish migrants in Norway, we found a common emphasis on the political dimensions of their decision to migrate. In the interviews, the economic component of migration was often related to bad governance and negative perceptions of the state. The similarities of Spanish and Romanian migration narratives are especially striking because Spain and Romania represent substantially different migratory, political and economic contexts. However, migration is more obviously intertwined with conventional acts of political protest in the Spanish case. We suggest that differences in democratic contexts are pivotal in people's reactions to and framing of their deep dissatisfaction with domestic politics, as found in many European countries today.
This article offers a sociological analysis of the migration motivations of highly skilled people... more This article offers a sociological analysis of the migration motivations of highly skilled people who left Spain after 2008. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, I map the role that la crisis played in highly skilled individuals' migration narratives. Using the recently emerging migration flow between Spain and Norway as a point of departure, I analyse migration from one of the most crisis-stricken regions of Europe to one of the least affected regions. This analysis establishes that the migrants' educational and occupational resources help to protect them from the threat of unemployment.
This article examines how women's and gender-equality issues form part of social movement organiz... more This article examines how women's and gender-equality issues form part of social movement organizations' ideological framing and discusses how this tendency is mirrored in discourses at European and nation state levels. Starting with one of western Europe's few non -EU member countries, the paper compares how two Norwegian social-movement organizations draw on gender issues in their argumentation. The analy sis is empirically based on written material produced by the organizations and takes recourse in a feminist methodological approach rooted in the tradition of discourse analysis. The analysis suggests that gender related issues discussed by the organizations are coloured by an implicit North-South hierarchy which frames some areas, nations and cultures as more gender-equal and women-friendly than others. By drawing on notions conceptualized by Nira , it is argued that social movement organizations' tendency to frame women's issues and gender-equality in a way that implicitly marks and maintains symbolic boundaries between North and South is coloured by a 'politics of belonging' at the macro -level. The final discussion suggests some of the ways in which it may be problematic to see Nordic gender-equality traditions and current EU initiatives as universal solutions that fit all women living in Europe.
Multiculturalism is a fiercely debated subject. This article argues that ambivalence is a central... more Multiculturalism is a fiercely debated subject. This article argues that ambivalence is a central feature of people's perspectives on societal diversity. Data are interviews with leaders from three Norwegian social movement organizations. Qualitative analysis reveals that despite leaders' very different organizational and political vantage points, they share a common ambivalence towards multiculturalism. This perspective on political and organizational leaders' views on diversity provides an important supplement to analyses aimed at classifying specific political preferences on multiculturalism. Considering ambivalent multiculturalism is therefore key to understanding those elements of public debate that are not 'either/or'. In addition to showing the wider relevance of ambivalence, the concluding discussion speculates on the link between ambivalent and extreme expressions in the Norwegian case.
Susanne Bygnes is a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She is also affiliated wit... more Susanne Bygnes is a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She is also affiliated with the comparative project Eurosphere, funded by the 6 th Framework Programme.
A collective sigh of relief: Local reactions to the establishment of new asylum centers in Norway, 2019
This article investigates a mood change in local communities where new asylum seeker facilities w... more This article investigates a mood change in local communities where new asylum seeker facilities were established in the wake of the "refugee crisis" in 2015. Whereas opinions in flux are often studied using quantitative data, this analysis takes advantage of in-depth qualitative interviews with inhabitants in selected Norwegian local communities after new temporary asylum reception centers were established. Qualitative data collected at this particular time provide the opportunity to gain insight into social processes occurring in the wake of a sudden influx of immigrants. A key feature of the material is statements reflecting fear or nervous anticipation in relation to the period before the newcomers arrived, followed by descriptions of diminishing concern afterwards. Several studies have engaged with the issue of changes in public mood during this particular period, but few have analyzed changes at the local level. The study concludes that while the backdrop of impactful events that led to shifts in public mood at the national and regional levels played a role in informants' imagined encounters with the newcomers , experiencing the presence of the newcomers resulted in a subtle mood change of increased acceptance.
Welcome to Norway! Da flyktningkrisa kom til Norge. , 2017
Denne artikkelen er basert på intervjuer og observasjonsdata samlet inn mens «flyktning-krisen» v... more Denne artikkelen er basert på intervjuer og observasjonsdata samlet inn mens «flyktning-krisen» var i ferd med å gjøre seg gjeldende i norske lokalmiljø. Den tar utgangspunkt i noen av kontaktflatene som oppsto mellom nykommere og fastboende i lokalmiljø som fikk midlertidige mottak i 2015. Analyser av intervjuer med nyankomne og fastboende om livet i og rundt ulike akuttmottak løfter frem betydningen av kontakt, rammebetingelser og ulike holdninger til frivillig arbeid. Artikkelen viser hvordan muligheten til å skape fysiske og sosiale «rom» av normal, menneskelig eksistens og etablere relasjoner på like fot innen-for rammene til mottaksapparatet forstås som betydningsfulle for relasjoner mellom lokal-miljø og nykommere. Både nykommerne som venter og folk i naermiljøet som ønsker å involvere seg, beskriver frustrasjon og mindre muligheter for samhandling på like fot, når byråkratiske regler om likebehandling fører til en opplevelse av at alle blir behandlet like dårlig. Konklusjonen peker på hvordan små fortellinger om hverdagsproblemer og opple-velser kan gi viktig informasjon om opplevelsen av å forholde seg til det norske mottaks-systemet fra ulike perspektiv. Nøkkelord: asyl, flyktning, frivillig, nabolag, lokalsamfunn This article is downloaded from www.idunn.no.
The 2004 EU extension and the 2008 financial crisis triggered new migration flows within Europe, ... more The 2004 EU extension and the 2008 financial crisis triggered new migration flows within Europe, and subsequent debates about what the novelty of these migration flows consists of. We draw on adult Polish and Spanish migrants' in Norway's considerations about future mobility and settlement, and explore how these situate themselves in relation to conceptualisations of intra-European migration as 'liquid'. Family concerns, economic factors and working life conditions in countries of origin appear as significant in migrants' reflections about the future. This seems to contrast with conceptualisations of intra-European migration as 'liquid' in the sense of increasing individualisation, lifestyles of mobility and a migrant habitus. Rather a 'normal life' is emphasised by migrants' underscoring desires to lead more grounded lives, under less 'liquid' conditions. Migrants' already established lives in Norway, together with deregulated labour markets in Poland and Spain, are experienced as reasons not to return. Migrants' considerations about the future suggest that key characteristics of South-North and East-West intra-European migration flows to Norway, appear to be converging: with a trend of transition to longer-term settlement and a wish for more grounded lives, where dignity is central and ongoing mobility is less prominent.
Motivations for migrating within the European Union have mainly been attributed to economic, care... more Motivations for migrating within the European Union have mainly been attributed to economic, career and lifestyle choices. This article suggests that political dissatisfaction is also an important motivator of recent intra-European migration. In our analysis of in-depth interviews with Romanian migrants in Spain and with Spanish migrants in Norway, we found a common emphasis on the political dimensions of their decision to migrate. In the interviews, the economic component of migration was often related to bad governance and negative perceptions of the state. The similarities of Spanish and Romanian migration narratives are especially striking because Spain and Romania represent substantially different migratory, political and economic contexts. However, migration is more obviously intertwined with conventional acts of political protest in the Spanish case. We suggest that differences in democratic contexts are pivotal in people's reactions to and framing of their deep dissatisfaction with domestic politics, as found in many European countries today.
This article offers a sociological analysis of the migration motivations of highly skilled people... more This article offers a sociological analysis of the migration motivations of highly skilled people who left Spain after 2008. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, I map the role that la crisis played in highly skilled individuals' migration narratives. Using the recently emerging migration flow between Spain and Norway as a point of departure, I analyse migration from one of the most crisis-stricken regions of Europe to one of the least affected regions. This analysis establishes that the migrants' educational and occupational resources help to protect them from the threat of unemployment.
This article examines how women's and gender-equality issues form part of social movement organiz... more This article examines how women's and gender-equality issues form part of social movement organizations' ideological framing and discusses how this tendency is mirrored in discourses at European and nation state levels. Starting with one of western Europe's few non -EU member countries, the paper compares how two Norwegian social-movement organizations draw on gender issues in their argumentation. The analy sis is empirically based on written material produced by the organizations and takes recourse in a feminist methodological approach rooted in the tradition of discourse analysis. The analysis suggests that gender related issues discussed by the organizations are coloured by an implicit North-South hierarchy which frames some areas, nations and cultures as more gender-equal and women-friendly than others. By drawing on notions conceptualized by Nira , it is argued that social movement organizations' tendency to frame women's issues and gender-equality in a way that implicitly marks and maintains symbolic boundaries between North and South is coloured by a 'politics of belonging' at the macro -level. The final discussion suggests some of the ways in which it may be problematic to see Nordic gender-equality traditions and current EU initiatives as universal solutions that fit all women living in Europe.
Multiculturalism is a fiercely debated subject. This article argues that ambivalence is a central... more Multiculturalism is a fiercely debated subject. This article argues that ambivalence is a central feature of people's perspectives on societal diversity. Data are interviews with leaders from three Norwegian social movement organizations. Qualitative analysis reveals that despite leaders' very different organizational and political vantage points, they share a common ambivalence towards multiculturalism. This perspective on political and organizational leaders' views on diversity provides an important supplement to analyses aimed at classifying specific political preferences on multiculturalism. Considering ambivalent multiculturalism is therefore key to understanding those elements of public debate that are not 'either/or'. In addition to showing the wider relevance of ambivalence, the concluding discussion speculates on the link between ambivalent and extreme expressions in the Norwegian case.
Susanne Bygnes is a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She is also affiliated wit... more Susanne Bygnes is a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, Norway. She is also affiliated with the comparative project Eurosphere, funded by the 6 th Framework Programme.
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