Why do we all have so little time, even though we can actually work more effectively than we could previously? The reason is that acceleration- the continuous increase in speed- is the basic principle of our time. "Modernity's entire history can be written as a history of acceleration," says Hartmut Rosa. At the CULCOM seminar "Time and Modernity" the sociologist presented a new theory of modernity.
An extravagant Pakistani wedding or a moderate Muslim celebration? What is Muslim and what is Pakistani? - It wasn't long before I began to understand that that which permeates all of their discussions about identity is the search for an Islamic identity. They are very concerned with separating culture and religion, says Liv Bjørnhaug Johansen, who recently submitted her Master's thesis "Et eget rom. Identitetsarbeid på en norsk-pakistansk nettside". ("A room of ones own". Identity-work on a Norwegian-Pakistani webpage")
Both researchers and Turkish authorities view them as fundamentalists. But actually they engage in totally normal religious activities. "It is important to render innocuous that which is harmless", says the anthropologist Johannes Elgvin, who in his Master's thesis takes issue with previous research on the Koran school movement.
Immigrant women do not leave the workforce at a higher rate than Norwegian women when they have children. The younger generation is doing better than their parents" generation. But education is not as important for obtaining a permanent job as is commonly believed. In her Master"s thesis, sociologist Ida Drange gives us new insight into immigrant women on the job market.
Why are there so many debates on religion these days? - Religion is presented as making up part of an alleged core of both the self and the nation, says Lars Laird Eriksen. The sociologist is researching the role of religion in the construction of national identity in the Norwegian school.
"The youth attack because society has violated them, and therefore they fight for 'recognition'," wrote the philosopher Odin Lysaker in a feature article on the youth protests in Copenhagen. Is it possible for us to understand conflicts better by reflecting over the fact that all people seek recognition?
What representations of "Norwegianess" and "normality" are imparted when teachers teach about gender and sexuality in a multicultural classroom? Does the instruction build upon mainstream understandings of the difference between "us" and "them", or do the teachers challenge these types of understandings? While most studies about "the New Norway" focuses on minorities, Åse Røthing directs her focus at both the majority and the minority, the "Norwegian" and the "non-Norwegian."
German politicians claim that they want to "save immigrant women." But for researcher Urmila Goel, the bills proposing to combat arranged marriage are racist and exclusionary. In a new research project, Goel is going to look at how racist and heteronormative discourses work together and reinforce each other in the German debate on arranged marriage.
Why do intelligent people have prejudices against lesbians and people from distant regions? Where does tolerance end for other ways of living?- I am interested in the boundaries of multiculturalism, said anthropologist Aleksandar Boskovic at one of CULCOM's Monday seminars.
They do not know one another and cannot speak to each other. Nevertheless, the old woman in the Moroccan village offers to help the dying woman from the United States. "In order to find common human values, we must go to the basic conditions for our existence - love and mortality", said the philosopher Odin Lysaker, at the seminar "Shared values in a community with a multiplicity of values".
The African male youth along the Aker river in Oslo who sell hashish to researchers, designers and students are passing on an old tradition in the area. "To speak of an honor and feudal culture in connection with the violence along the river is misguided," says sociologist Sveinung Sandberg. Together with sociology professor Willy Pedersen, this research fellow has studied Norway's largest outdoor hash market
In 1990, Lithuania was the first Baltic State to declare its independence from the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian anthropologist Vytis Ciubrinskas spoke at CULCOM's Monday Seminar of a country where national identity has become less ethnic.
They talk a lot about football, school and love. Whatever their topic of conversation, they almost always refer back to their status as foreigners. Linguist Inger Margrethe Hvenekilde Seim has analyzed a conversation between two youths with Kurdish and Pakistani background. The conversation was so interesting that she wrote her entire Master’s thesis on it. This linguist thinks that a conversation analysis approach should be utilized more frequently. “It is important for youth to be studied on their own terms,” she says.
Children act as interpreters for their parents, immigrants with poor language skills are not assigned an interpreter in important situations, and interpreters neglect to convey important information. For over 20 years, the quality of interpreting services in Norway has been intensely criticized. – “The main problem is not that there are people who are willing to serve as interpreters, yet lack the appropriate training to do so, but that we as a society have not set out minimum standards for who may perform as an interpreter,” says the social anthropologist Hilde Fiva. She has recently published one of the first studies based on fieldwork among interpreters in Norway.
Why do sociologists claim that globalization leads to greater equality, while most people in the world are experiencing greater inequality? Why do sociologists say that we live in a post-industrial society while industry lives on in good health - in low-cost countries? In her Master’s thesis, Ida Hjelde reveals sociology’s eurocentric perspective on the world. – “Sociology must get a grasp on how our lives are connected to the rest of the world: A science that does not see the world in all of its complexity is not a good science,” she says.
“The freedom to choose” and “If you want it, you can get it,” is written on posters, and we read in the newspapers that “Bush will spread freedom throughout the world.” – “When everyone starts speaking about freedom in such a positive manner, we must exercise caution. The concept is in the process of acquiring new meanings” said philosopher Arne Johan Vetlesen at CULCOM’s two-day seminar on freedom. Vetlesen was not the only one who questioned whether we are on the road to greater freedom.
Do honor killings and forced marriages have more to do with integration or gender equality? How diverse is Nordic feminism? Although Norwegian, Swedish and Danish policies on gender equality have had striking similarities throughout the entire 20th century, these policies have quite different approaches to multiculturalism. Trude Langvasbråten calls attention to this fact in her Master’s thesis in political science.
How did idea of the dangerous immigrant emerge? Migration is increasingly defined as a security problem. Military skips patrol the ocean and walls are built to shut out migrants. –“We need a global perspective in criminology, or else the globally marginalized will disappear from our radar,” argues the criminologist Katja Franko Aas, who is writing a book on globalization and criminality.
Why are certain religious communities granted government funding, even though they treat men and women differently? Why does Norway - despite viewing itself as the world leader in gender equality - prioritize religious freedom higher than gender equality? – “The fact that gender equality does not have the same status as religious freedom gives cause to wonder,” argues political scientist Hege Skjeie, who received one of CULCOM’s research stipends to conduct her research project, “Religious pluralism and (state)-feminism in integration policy.”
“The most important thing the Palestinian intellectual Edward Said did was to establish a Jewish-Arabic youth orchestra. This was more important than writing 100 books,” said Thomas Hylland Eriksen. “There is a heightened consciousness toward the fact that art and culture are driving forces behind democracy, equality, and cooperation across ethnic and religious distinctions,” said Mette Lending. “Cosmoculture” was the subject of a joint event organized by CULCOM and the Oslo National Academy of Arts.
Can immigrants from Punjab help us to understand the abortion of female fetuses among Indians in Punjab? What do people who originate from this province, but now reside in Norway, think about this problem? Religious scholar Torkel Brekke (University of Oslo) and physician Narpinder Singh (Rikshospitalet University Hospital) will now carry out the first study of sex-selective abortion in a transnational context.
A significant amount of research focuses on racism and discrimination. However, lately social scientists have developed an interest for more propitious attitudes toward "others", of which one example is cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism can be compared with showing respect for the ban on smoking. "A person takes other people into consideration because she realizes that she can coexist in the world together with them without necessarily needing to be in agreement about what constitutes 'the good life'", points out Thomas Hylland Eriksen in a paper written for the "Cosmopolitanism and Anthropology" conference at the University of Keele.
"We should speak of normal-centrism in the same way that we speak of ethnocentrism." This was the opinion of special needs educationalist, Ivar Morken, at the seminar titled "The Normal and the Deviant", which was arranged by the research program, Cultural Complexity in the New Norway (CULCOM). The seminar speakers pointed out that not only people coming from foreign countries have different conceptions of what constitutes the good life, but also people who are deaf, blind and use wheelchairs. And far from everyone aspires to be "normal".
An unwarranted search for security brings about insecurity. Insecurity constitutes the breeding ground for uproar and fundamentalism. By investigating people's relationships to security, it is possible to gain new perspectives on life in a culturally complex society. This came out of the seminar Security in a Transnational Era, which was arranged by the research program Cultural Complexity in the New Norway.
They learn Norwegian by watching the soap opera Hotel Caesar, and carefully follow debate programs and the news. Cameroonians in Norway consciously use the media to acquire knowledge of Norwegian society. At the same time they feel like the Norwegian media excludes them. Also, limited access to the Internet in Cameroon has hindered the development of a living diaspora community. These are some of the findings in Henry Nsaidzeka Mainsah's Master's thesis about media habits among Norwegian-Cameroonians.
The Lonely Planet travel guide lays beside a book about gender relations in a Turkish village. In the fall, CULCOM's research fellow Therese Sandrup will begin field work in the farthest southeastern corner of Europe. - It is important to look at the migration process in its entirety. Certain actions and decisions are the result of a dialogue between the past and the present, the country of origin and the Norwegian context, she says.
In the 1970s, The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) struggled with integrating women and new occupational groups. Margrethe Daae-Qvale believes the same is now happening with immigrants. But this historian also sees signs of more receptiveness among the labor movement. In connection with her Master's thesis, she has interviewed immigrants who have been active in the trade union, together with central participants within LO's forum for ethnic equality.
Do Christians and Muslims face common challenges, or are they so distant from each other that communication becomes impossible? Do they have elements of a common strategy in order to relate to their respective holy scriptures regarding gender roles and women's oppression? In order to answer these questions, the theologian Anne-Hege Grung has formed a dialogue group with Christian and Muslim women. They are meeting to discuss texts from the Bible, the Koran and Hadith.
In studying media habits among Norwegian-Iranian people, sociologist Sharam Alghasi wants to comment on the relationship between Norwegians and Iranians. - You cannot consider yourself to be Norwegian if you feel you are excluded from Norwegian society through the media. I am trying to understand how certain power mechanisms in the relationship between Iranians and the media leads Iranians to believe that they occupy a certain place in Norwegian society, he says.
Anthropologist Cicilie Fagerlid had actually intended to study peaceful cosmopolitan existence in Paris. But a month after she had relocated there, on the day she completed her French language course, riots broke out in the suburbs. - There is loads of cosmopolitanism here, but when people around you are angry, it is bit inappropriate not to take their anger seriously, and just see the things that are going well, she says. This research fellow now wants to find out why France ended up in this situation - in large part by studying the poetry slam scene.
"The world consists of different people. And every people has its own culture that it has a right to preserve." This way of viewing the world can be traced back to the German philosopher, Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803). - Multiculturalists are the children of Herder, said Torgeir Skorgen at the seminar "Herder and Anthropology", where historians, philosophers, and anthropologists from the United States, Germany and Norway considered the relevance of Herder's philosophy to the present day.
Previously Unni Wikan has been interested in immigrant women and children. She now wants us to be more concerned with the men. Better insights into the mens' situations could prevent conflicts, says the anthropologist, who is working on the analysis of two court cases to do with honour killing and forced marriage. - I am sitting on top of a goldmine of ethnographic material that illustrates cultural complexity in a whole new way, she says.
Do not underestimate free will and do not trivialize coercion! This is the conclusion in Anja Bredal's doctoral thesis on arranged marriage. After ten years of research, one doctorate and several journal and newspaper articles this sociologist is still interested in the topic. She wonders about one thing in particular: How is it possible to maintain a nuanced moderate position and yet still be interesting?
By studying tombstones Alexa Døving has gained new knowledge about Norwegians and Pakistanis. The researcher of religion will now use this new knowledge to write a textbook that will bring nuance to disputed questions on culture, integration and multiculturalism. - We don't have books that discuss these issues by using actual examples from daily life, she says.
- I want to investigate the space in between. The space between Christians and Muslims. I wonder whether there is an open landscape which we share and which nobody has control over. Theologian Oddbjørn Leirvik likes metaphors and pictures. He uses them a lot in conversation. Leirvik has published a new book about Christian-Muslim dialogue - a topic that is also central to his contribution to the research program Cultural Complexity.
Special needs educationalist Ivar Morken wishes to study the relationship Pakistani parents have to Norwegian schools: What are their expectations? How good are schools at in involving the parents? For Ivar Morken cultural complexity is just as much about class differences in Gudbrandsdalen as it is about immigration from distant lands.
Norway has always been a land of immigration. In the three volume "Norsk innvandringshistorie" (A History of Immigration in Norway) the historian Knut Kjedstadli, in collaboration with other historians and social scientists, showed that it is wrong to believe that Norway was a homogeneous society before the arrival of Pakistanis and Somalis. In the Cultural Complexity research programme Kjeldstadli hopes to widen this perspective: He will collect life histories - immigrants' stories of migration to Norway and their encounter with Norwegian society.
What is the relationship between ethnic Norwegian and non-ethnic Norwegian feminists or immigrant women? This is one of the big questions that Beatrice Halsaa, leader of the Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research (SKK) is interested in. She has been one of three coordinators for an international network of researchers, Women's Movement and Internationalization and one of the editors of the book "Crossing Borders" which explores the diversity of the global women's movement.
How does multicultural society challenge the Norwegian legal system and our interpretation of the law? What happens when different conceptions of the law meet? Should all people be treated alike - regardless of background? Or should groups be given special treatment based on religion and/or ethnicity? Jurists too are trying to come to grips with multicultural questions. Anne Hellum is one of a group of researchers taking part in the research programme Cultural Complexity and one of the few jurists in Norway who combine law and anthropology.
- There are many different views on the relationship Islam has to human rights. But no one has investigated processes based on the believer's needs, considers the historian of religion Lena Larsen, who has recently been allocated funding from the research project Cultural Complexity in the new Norway. She will be investigating fatwas' - Muslim legal decrees - interpretations of Sharia legal principles.
The Master's degree students are not just researching immigrants' lives in Norway. They are investigating too how Norwegians and immigrants influence one another. Several projects cast a critical eye over Norwegians' handling of cultural diversity.
Immigrants have a tough time in the labour market. In Canada, the USA and Northern Ireland employers are obliged to prevent discrimination by analyzing their own company: Are ethnic minorities under-represented in the workforce? - In Norway we don't have such an arrangement. Therefore I thought it would be interesting to see whether it was possible to do something like that here too, says Ronald Craig. The jurist has obtained funding to find an answer within six months.
Do the Sami's claims for self-determination loosen their bonds to the Norwegian political system? Has their allegiance been weakened or strengthened after the establishment of the Sami Parliament? Political scientist Anne Julie Semb has been allocated a research grant to carry out a comprehensive questionnaire survey.
A recording studio where young artists create rap music is as culturally complex as possible. This is the opinion of musicologists Jan Sverre Knudsen and Stan Hawkins who are studying a hip-hop group in Oslo: How does music create bonds? How does it create boundaries? And how does immigration influence the development of music genres?
Social antropologist Cicilie Fagerlid is doing fieldwork in Paris among migrants and cosmopolitains. From now on, she will share her experiences with us in her new blog
By studying flags it is possible to study how a society includes and excludes people. At the conference "Flying the flag: Critical perspectives on symbolism and identity", researchers from several countries took up themes such as the Northern Ireland conflict and racism in the USA. But not all use of flags is related to nationalism as the examples from Denmark and Norway demonstrate. The contributed articles will later be collected and published as a book.
Although the term complexity is often drawn into debates and research on migration and ethnicity, it is rarely examined. This article sets out to do two things: To distinguish between different meanings of complexity, and to show how complexity - a seemingly fuzzy term - can be operationalised in research on contemporary majority - minority relations.
- I am probably the only one writing about nationalism who doesn't think it ugly, says Benedict Anderson. In 1983 the professor at Cornell University, New York, wrote one of the most read books ever on nationalism, "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism". At the international literature festival Kapittel (Chapter) in Stavanger he had a good half-hour free for an interview.
How important is mutual trust in a multicultural society? How can trust be made? Should we get involved with others, or is neglect a better alternative? At the launching seminar for the research programme Cultural complexity in the new Norway, the participants got to hear inspiring presentations by researchers from Norway's neighbouring countries Sweden and Denmark, and organizations who work against racism.
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