A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation
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...
Published in: | Ethnicities |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10852/85981 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-88640 https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 |
id |
ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/85981 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/85981 2024-09-30T14:42:34+00:00 A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine 2021-04-21T14:15:48Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/85981 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-88640 https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 EN eng NFR/222757 NFR/256205 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-88640 Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine . A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation. Ethnicities. 2021 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/85981 1905630 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Ethnicities&rft.volume=&rft.spage=&rft.date=2021 Ethnicities https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 URN:NBN:no-88640 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/85981/2/ethnicities-erdal-fangen-2021.pdf Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1468-7968 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2021 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 2024-09-12T05:44:03Z 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 Article in Journal/Newspaper sami Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Norway Ethnicities 22 3 446 466 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) |
op_collection_id |
ftoslouniv |
language |
English |
description |
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 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine |
spellingShingle |
Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
author_facet |
Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine |
author_sort |
Erdal, Marta Bivand |
title |
A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
title_short |
A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
title_full |
A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
title_fullStr |
A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
title_full_unstemmed |
A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
title_sort |
state centred conception of nationhood? norwegian bureaucrats on the nation |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/85981 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-88640 https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
sami |
genre_facet |
sami |
op_source |
1468-7968 |
op_relation |
NFR/222757 NFR/256205 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-88640 Erdal, Marta Bivand Fangen, Katrine . A state centred conception of nationhood? Norwegian bureaucrats on the nation. Ethnicities. 2021 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/85981 1905630 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Ethnicities&rft.volume=&rft.spage=&rft.date=2021 Ethnicities https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 URN:NBN:no-88640 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/85981/2/ethnicities-erdal-fangen-2021.pdf |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968211012567 |
container_title |
Ethnicities |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
446 |
op_container_end_page |
466 |
_version_ |
1811644550611992576 |