The state of the nation: the Norwegian King’s annual addresses – a window on a shifting nationhood

Demiri, Sandra Feride; Fangen, Katrine

doi:10.1080/14608944.2018.1498470

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Construction of nationhood in Norway has taken an anti-imperialist rhetoric similar to other 'small nations' such as Ireland or those in the Balkans (Male sevi c, 2019). Comparatively, Norway has a relatively short history as an independent nation-state, and therefore, independence and freedom have become an integral part of the national narrative (Buxrud and Fangen, 2017;Demiri and Fangen, 2019). Norway was under Danish rule for 277 years (from 1537-1814).…”

Section: Nationhood In Norwaymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, rather than defining national identity based on a shared past history and some interpretation of a national culture (Vertovec, 2011), he introduces the idea of being in the same boat with regard to the future of Norwegian society, as a welfare state, and emphasizes a willingness to pull together, thus pointing to a civic conception of nationhood (see also Buxrud and Fangen, 2017; Demiri and Fangen, 2019). He foregrounded the salience of a conception of everyday nationhood in practice, but not developing this as an idea of nationhood in full.…”

Section: Bureaucrats and State-centred Conceptions Of Nationhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another one of our interviewees, a senior member of the integration section in the Ministry of Children and Families, was concerned about the importance of describing foreign fighters as ‘our young Norwegians’, ‘ our extremists’. Reflecting on which concepts were being used, and the need for inclusive concepts when speaking about immigrants – points to the idea of a broad Norwegian ‘we’ stated in earlier White papers (Buxrud and Fangen, 2017; Demiri and Fangen, 2019; Horst, 2019). We see here that the same topic, foreign fighters, is considered very differently when seen from an immigration control and crime prevention perspective in the Ministry of Justice, or from an integration policy perspective.…”

Section: Bureaucrats and State-centred Conceptions Of Nationhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A state-centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation

Erdal

Fangen

2021

Ethnicities

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This article engages critically with the idea of state-centred nationhood, including its promises and limitations, as a foundation for state strategies of forging unity in (migration-related) diversity within nations. As states across Europe grapple with the management of migration-related diversity, in contexts of increasing polarization of public debate on nationhood, which conceptions of nationhood do they draw on? We build on data from Norway, including policy documents and parliamentary debates, and draw on ten interviews with eleven bureaucrats in senior positions. Our interviewees were tasked with different aspects of the state’s nation building work, such as immigration control, national minorities (including Sami populations), religious and life-stance communities, and the 200-year anniversary of the Constitution. When asking which conceptions of nationhood bureaucrats draw on, we acknowledge that someone is doing the state’s nation building work. We find that the bureaucrats draw on a range of conceptions of nationhood, where ethnic and civic, more open and more closed dimensions, are mobilized. However, we did not find a cohesive conception of a state-centred nationhood being promulgated. Instead, our interviewees expressed uncertainty about how and to what extent nationhood could or should be mobilized to forge unity among Norwegian citizens. We argue that future research should move beyond dichotomies such as ethnic/civic or elite/everyday nationhood to theorize the composite articulations of nationhood which emerge empirically. Who bureaucrats effectively see as the imagined community, we argue, remains central to understanding states nation-building efforts.

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Section: Nationhood In Norwaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bureaucrats and State-centred Conceptions Of Nationhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bureaucrats and State-centred Conceptions Of Nationhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A state-centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation

Erdal

Fangen

2021

Ethnicities

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“…We can see traces of these ideological roots of Norwegian nationhood in the Norwegian constitution, the celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day, and the history and practices of the Norwegian monarchy [60], where the freedom of the people and uniqueness of the Norwegian language and culture have been of greater importance than colonization and notions of being an empire of the world. Norway was in a union with Denmark from 1380 to 1814 and a protectorate under Sweden from 1814 to 1905.…”

Section: Postcolonial Theory Norwegian Nationalism and Critical Race Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Whiteness Isn’t about Skin Color.” Challenges to Analyzing Racial Practices in a Norwegian Context

Dankertsen

Kristiansen

2021

Societies

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While being Norwegian is often associated with being white, the absence of a discourse on race makes it difficult to analyze racialization scientifically. It is sometimes argued that critical race theory is developed within an American context and that it is not culturally relevant in a Norwegian context. We argue that while this might be true in some cases, critical race theory might nevertheless give new insights into how racial practices and colonial structures continue to be important parts of the power relations in Norway. We base our article on two empirical materials from a Norwegian-Sámi context and from professionals in Norwegian child protective services in order to illuminate how racialization is expressed. In our comparative perspective and collaborative and self-reflexive writing process, we use the concept of interpretive repertoire to explore how postcolonial and critical race theory is a challenging, but nevertheless useful approach to analyze racialization and discrimination in Norway.

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“…Following the Critical Discourse Studies tradition, research on how national identity in contemporary Europe is constituted has been made within various contexts, including the media (Costelloe, 2014;Li, 2009;Şahin, 2011), political discourse (Henderson & McEwen, 2005;Jensen, 2014), law discourse (Kjaer & Palsbro, 2008), royal speeches (Demiri & Fangen, 2018) and focus group discussions (Clary-Lemon, 2010). National identity has also been studied from a historical perspective, analysing certain historical epochs, i.e.…”

Section: Studies Of Discursive Constructions Of National Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature, modernity, and diversity: Swedish national identity in a touring association’s yearbooks 1886–2013

Hagren

2020

National Identities

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Using a discourse analytical method, this paper explores how Sweden and Swedish national identity are expressed in the yearbooks from the Swedish Tourist Association, and if there have been any changes in the discursive constructions during 127 years of publications. The results indicate changing discursive strategies during the period. Around 1900, a homogeneous national identity was constructed through ideas about a common essence and culture. In the following decades, perpetuation strategies justified the identity by referring to a common history. A shift occurred around 2000, with transformation and deconstruction strategies that questioned the established ideas about Sweden and Swedishness.

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The state of the nation: the Norwegian King’s annual addresses – a window on a shifting nationhood

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

A state-centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation

A state-centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation

“Whiteness Isn’t about Skin Color.” Challenges to Analyzing Racial Practices in a Norwegian Context

Nature, modernity, and diversity: Swedish national identity in a touring association’s yearbooks 1886–2013

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