Norwegian sexualities: Assimilation and exclusion in Norwegian immigration policy

Abstract

In this article, we discuss how certain sexual norms currently labeled as ‘Norwegian’ come into play in immigration policy related to marriage migrants and homosexuals who seek asylum in Norway. Our analyses indicate that discourses on sexuality in immigration politics are gendered and racialized at the Norwegian border. We discuss the continued significance of Orientalist notions that render its sexual subjects as inherently ‘different’ and supposedly premodern in contemporary regulation of immigration to Norway. Independence, freedom of choice and informed, strategic initiative, usually considered late modern ideals, seem to be grounds for suspecting the motivation for migration. Migration seems to be legitimate only when it is a result of necessity caused by the inherent emotional and sexual needs which signify the authentic homosexual and marriage migrant.

A Wager for Life: <i>Queer children seeking asylum in Norway</i>

“…Prejudice and stereotypes about queer people's lives and appearances have been documented in justifications for declining asylum seekers on the basis of sexual orientation, both in Norway and in Europe at large (Akin 2017;Akin & Svendsen 2018;Gartner 2015, Gustavsson 2016Mühleisen, Røthing & Svendsen 2012). This research shows that asylum seekers are required to be recognizable as queer subjects according to Western stereotypes (ibid).…”

(Un)liveabilities: Homonationalism and transnational adoption

“…11. Even though Puar coined the term homonationalism (2007), other scholars working in Europe should also be referenced for their work on intersections between nationalist, racist and colonial discourses and gay rights discourses, see for example Gressgaard and Jacobsen (2008) (2011) and Mu¨leisen et al (2012). 12.…”

The Affective Biopolitics of Migration

“…In a Nordic context, an emerging body of research examines how migration is governed through love and intimacy (see e.g. Fair 2010; Mühleisen, Røthing & Svendsen 2012;Myong & Bissenbakker 2016;Myong & Trige Andersen 2015;Myrdahl 2010;Stubberud 2016). Such studies highlight how affective biopolitical regulation on both macro-and micro-levels is informed by gendered, racialised and sexualised norms that lead to inclusion and exclusion of specific forms of intimate migration.…”