Resistance and protest against Norwegian Child Welfare Services on Facebook - different perceptions of child-centring

Recurrence, eruptions, and a transnational turn: Three decades of strained relations between migrants to Norway and the Child Welfare Services

“…Proliferation on social media—pertaining to myths, vague rumours, and to first‐hand stories of forced removals (regardless of whether unjust or not)—clearly plays a very important role, which is not really well understood in child welfare research. In the only study we have seen on Facebook, which is about protest groups against the CWS, Stang () concludes that “(u)sing Facebook, the protest groups raise basic issues into the public eye. This provides opportunities for discussion and the experience of shared destiny and support” (p. 284).…”

“…As stated, transnational perspectives are largely absent in the relevant research on the CWS and migrants and digital transnationality even more so. The question of how digital communication shapes people's and in particular migrants' views on the CWS seems to be largely unanswered in both Norwegian and relevant international research (but see Stang, ).…”

Reputation crisis management and the state: Theorising containment as diplomatic mode

“…We postulate that states with similar self-identities to Norway and with a dialogue-based diplomatic culture would follow a similar response pattern if faced with an international attack on their core identity and values. The highly emotional aspects of child and family politics in any country (Stang, 2018) also make insights from our case relevant beyond the Norwegian context. By adding containment as a fourth response type to Adler-Nissen (2014) tripartite schemata -recognition, rejection and countering -and by focusing on three categories of state actors, we explore how state representatives have different response modes and repertoires of action available to them in an ontological security crisis.…”

“…3 However, the 2016 protests represented the largest organised effort to date, and they were subject to massive media attention -extending beyond Norway and the states where protests had taken place. They were preceded, accompanied and followed by campaigns via email and social media conveying the same message (Stang, 2018). As such, and by explicitly addressing the Norwegian system and practices for child protection and welfare more broadly, the 2016 demonstrations can be seen as marking the onset of a critical situation which demanded attention and a different kind of management and response from the Norwegian state.…”

Staten, barnevernet og utenrikspolitikken

“…Det var dette som var bakgrunnen for den ovennevnte bølgen av demonstrasjoner mot det norske barnevernet i 2016. Demonstrasjonene fikk mye oppmerksomhet både i norsk og internasjonal presse, og flere av protestgruppene etablerte seg også i mer permanent form i sosiale medier (seStang 2018). Et annet forhold, som ofte opptrer sammen med det første, er når andre stater engasjerer seg i enkeltsaker på vegne av statsborgere med barn i Norge, og tar sakene opp med Norge i bilaterale fora.…”