The Norwegians who don't exist
Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Norway Now, 1995
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Although the outside world (as well as many Norwegians)
still perceive Norway as a "white, Christian country", it
[Image] has unquestionably become more motley in its pigmental
makeup in recent years. Since the first Pakistani workers
About this site were invited, in the late 1960s, to fill jobs undesirable
to Norwegians, the numbers of non-Europeans resident in
[Image] the country have grown steadily. Despite the fact that
Norway officially halted regular immigration in 1975, and
Relational even if the country today admits fewer refugees than most
index European countries, the presence of inhabitants of
non-European origin is becoming ever more palpable,
[Image] especially in the Oslo region.
Thematic index Sadly, media focus on ethnic minorities in Norway tends
to focus on problems. Whether the issue is "immigrant
[Image] crime" (a nasty term coined by the tabloids a few years
ago), arranged marriages among Pakistani immigrants, or
Alphabetic systematic discrimination of non-whites by customs
index officials, many Norwegians get the impression that
immigration is tantamount to cultural conflict and social
[Image] problems.
Recent This is not necessarily the case, and although Norway,
unlike colonial powers such as Britain and France, has
had little experience with non-Europeans before the
[Image] 1960s, there have been no race riots in this country. In
general, Norwegians and immigrants get on well. A student
World from Trøndelag told me recently about her surprise upon
discovering the open and peaceful atmosphere of Grønland,
a part of Oslo known for its large numbers of immigrants.
This area is widely believed, in other parts of the
country, to be be a centre of Islamic fundamentalism and
ethnic tension.
Immigration has enrichened Norwegian society in many
ways, bringing with it a plethora of foreign cultural
expressions and impulses which would otherwise have
remained unknown. On the other hand, it would be both
foolish and dangerous to pretend that the relationship
between Norwegians and newcomers is purely idyllic. Many
natives are suspicious of immigrants and refugees, and it
has time and again been documented that non-natives are
treated as inferiors. The term restaurant racism has
become part of the Norwegian vocabulary, and as a
student, I worked as a bouncer at a nightclub in central
Oslo where non-whites were systematically denied access.
Harassment from the police is also common, and customs
officials have a reputation for rude behaviour towards
people who look non-European. A black Swede told me that
during one year, he visited Norway seventeen times
because his girlfriend was Norwegian, and every single
time he was picked out and questioned by the customs
officials, despite his Swedish passport and fluent
Swedish language. (It was recently revealed that not a
single customs official has a non-European background.)
Notwithstanding occasional instances of everyday
discrimination, the most painful aspect of living in a
foreign, frequently hostile and indifferent environment
is, for many immigrants and refugees, the sense of
nostalgia for one's home country, which it is usually
impossible to share with Norwegians or even to make them
understand. All immigrants have to learn about Norway and
to master the outlandish Norwegian language, but no
Norwegians have to learn Tamil or Urdu, or need to know
that the Hindu feast of lights is called Divali, or that
Baha'is are persecuted in Iran, or that the Kurds have
been subjected to brutal domination by five states in
this century. If the immigrants are to partake in
Norwegian life, they have to learn to behave more or less
as Norwegians; we do not have to behave like them. Until
they manage to behave a little bit like ourselves, they
do not exist.
Indeed, many of them are being told implicitly that they
do not exist most of the time. A friend told me about the
following situation at his workplace, a research
institute in Oslo. One day he arrived at work early and
met the cleaning woman, who was a Tamil of Sri Lankan
origin. In the spirit of light-hearted conversation, he
made a few passing remarks about Hinduism and asked her a
specific question about the Hindu gods most highly
revered in her part of Sri Lanka. The woman was moved
almost to tears by his casual comment. During five years
in Norway, she had never before met a Norwegian who had
showed the slightest interest in her place of origin, or
who had even indicated that he knew where she was from.
She had grown accustomed to not existing until she began
talking about Norway.
Is this the kind of country we want to live in? It would
be an exaggeration to claim that the issue is on the
national agenda, but one may at least hope that it will
be in the near future.
⌐Thomas Hylland Eriksen 1995
[Image]
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