Attitudes Toward Immigrants in Rural Norway. A Rural‐Urban Comparison

Abstract

Successful integration of immigrants is vital for rural areas facing population decline and labour shortage. Yet little is known about the role civil society plays in this process and about the factors that promote or hamper acceptance of immigrants by the local population. By using data from a national survey of the Norwegian population, this article examines rural‐urban differences in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, and what characteristics rural and urban residents consider important for immigrants who may settle in their locality. The results indicate that people living in rural areas express more negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration compared to people living in urban areas. Additionally, rural residents place greater importance than their urban counterparts do on immigrants’ participating in local events, speaking the native language, and being willing to adapt to Norwegian values.

Is Social Contact With the Resident Population a Prerequisite of Well-Being and Place Attachment? The Case of Refugees in Rural Regions of Germany

“…Comparative empirical research on attitudes of rural residents toward immigrants reveals a reluctant or even hostile attitude, which might be due to less contact and individual experiences of living with immigrants (e.g., Czaika and Di Lillo, 2018 , for European comparison; Zahl-Thanem and Haugen, 2018 , for the case of Norway). A study on the social integration of Polish labor migrants on a Norwegian island stressed the level of social exposure, i.e., the likelihood of contact and the degree of intra-community contact of immigrants (as social bonds) and between migrants and resident population (as social bridges), as an element of social integration (Stachowski, 2020 ).…”

Rural youth

“…The regional distribution of responses corresponds quite well to the population data. For further survey information, see Farstad (2016); Zahl-Thanem and Haugen (2019).…”

«Du må bare leve med det» – om strukturelle føringer, handlingsrom og strategier blant sesongmigranter i landbruket

“…Det er også forskjeller mellom lokalbefolkningens og innvandrernes vurderinger av innvandreres påvirkning på lokalsamfunn . Studier har vist at innbyggere i rurale strøk kan ha sterkere forventninger om at innvandrerne skal tilpasse seg lokale verdier, kultur og vaeremåter enn innbyggere i urbane strøk (Zahl-Thanem & Haugen, 2019), på tross av rådende framstilling av stedene som multikulturelle.…”