Rural authenticity as cosmopolitan modernity?

Kristensen, Guro Korsnes; Gullikstad, Berit

doi:10.4324/9781003091714-13

Cited by 3 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Some also underlined qualities, such as safety, quietness and beautiful nature (Søholt et al., 2012) and certain lifestyle opportunities (Lynnebakke, 2021). In line with this, Kristensen and Gullikstad (2022) found in interviews with 13 mayors in a sparsely populated region in Norway, that international migration is seen as positively contributing to demography and local industry, and as enriching for the local community. In this respect, recent demographic changes have contributed to foster new place identities as ‘diverse communities’, as opposed to rural societies being often depicted as homogenous, traditional and closed‐minded (Kristensen & Gullikstad, 2022).…”

Section: Refugee Settlement and Rural Areas As ‘Good Places To Live’mentioning

confidence: 69%

“…From the national authorities’ perspectives, such narratives are important because they strengthen the legitimacy of the refugee dispersal policies. However, the narratives also target the inhabitants of the municipalities because refugee settlement is a local political decision that ultimately relies on support from a local population that may have concerns about potential economic, social or cultural ‘costs’ of refugee settlement (Kristensen & Gullikstad, 2022). Finally, the positive frame also serves the purpose of making newcomers feel welcome, by emphasizing the commitment and good will of those who are there to assist them.…”

Section: Narratives Of Refugee Settlement and The Ruralmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet most importantly, refugees represent much‐needed immigration that contributes to ensuring a demographic basis for schools, leisure activities, services, shops and so on. Many rural municipalities – including those with little experience with refugee settlement – have therefore settled quite large numbers of refugees in recent years (Kristensen & Sætermo, 2021; Søholt & Aasland, 2021; Tønnesen & Andersen, 2019), and many express both a capacity and a will to settle more refugees (Kristensen & Gullikstad, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such understandings of rural communities go against common notions of the rural as backward and stagnant and see them as more closely connected with progressive and diverse urban societies (McAreavey & Argent, 2018). Moreover, studies have shown that successful experiences with integration are used as arguments for future settlement policies in rural regions and municipalities, as well as to attract newcomers (Gullikstad & Kristensen, 2021; Kristensen & Gullikstad, 2022; Kristensen & Sætermo, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Personal, peaceful, progressive: Integration workers’ narratives of refugee settlement and the rural

Sætermo,

Kristensen

2023

Sociologia Ruralis

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Settlement of refugees in rural areas in Norway is part of a national strategy to counter depopulation and thus links to ideas of revitalization and more promising futures for these areas. It also links up to an idea of smaller communities as ‘better at integrating’, as smaller communities both enable and necessitate more contact between the original population and newcomers. However, although some municipalities reap advantages of the dispersed settlement policy and succeed in retaining settled refugees, other municipalities ‘fail’. This article explores how the integration of refugees in rural communities is interpreted by public integration workers in two rural–coastal municipalities where the outcomes differ significantly. Drawing on 15 qualitative interviews, we discuss how integration workers make sense of local integration efforts, and how notions of the rural are (re)produced through their integration narratives. The analysis finds that the integration narratives draw on and reproduce both distinct and overlapping imaginaries of rural areas. We identify two main imaginaries: the rural as future‐oriented and dynamic, and the rural as close‐knit and peaceful.

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Section: Refugee Settlement and Rural Areas As ‘Good Places To Live’mentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Narratives Of Refugee Settlement and The Ruralmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Personal, peaceful, progressive: Integration workers’ narratives of refugee settlement and the rural

Sætermo,

Kristensen

2023

Sociologia Ruralis

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“…The narrative of "everyone knows everyone" in a rural town or village, however, bears a contrasting effect, whereby the tight-knit social fabric of rural communities is understood as potentially making it more difficult for migrants to build social ties, and thus generating a higher degree of social exclusion (Kristensen & Gullikstad, 2021). Also, due to practical reasons including resources and personnel, it can be harder for smaller communities to provide tailored integration services (Patuzzi et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrants’ Experiences of Settling in a Rural Community in Norway: Inclusion and Exclusion Through “Being Seen”

Sætermo,

Gjertsen,

Kristensen

2024

Self Cite

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This article sets out from two dominant and contradictive narratives about immigrant integration in rural areas in Norway. The first holds that rural areas are “better at integration” as relations in these communities are more tight‐knit and personal. The other holds that integration in rural areas is more difficult due to the homogeneity and closed‐mindedness of rural communities. Based on ethnographic in‐depth interviews with individuals with different immigration backgrounds living in a rural coastal community, the article explores their perceptions of rural integration and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in the local community. By using the notion of “being seen” as an analytical lens, the article shows that both narratives of rural integration are engaged and that experiences of inclusion and exclusion are interwoven and complex. On the one hand, “being seen” points to more personalised relations and support; on the other, it points to concerns by immigrants that they are seen by locals as “others.” The lens of visibility and “being seen” allows for a more nuanced understanding of immigrants’ experiences with settling in and finding their place in rural areas, and strengthens the argument for studying rural areas as a particular context for inclusion.

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Integration as a Solution to Depopulation? Producing the Moral and Loyal Resident in Policies Aiming to Attract and Retain International Migrants

Kvalvaag

2024

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

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Combining two streams of literature, this article is framed within critical migration studies and local migration and integration studies. Making integration discourses the object of research, I use county-oriented policies that aim to attract and retain international migrants in the north of Norway to question in what context and with what purpose the concept of integration is used in an area experiencing depopulation. Using the analytical concepts of the moral and the loyal resident to develop my arguments, I find that (1) the concept integration is primarily used within the context of participation in organized, voluntary activities and the labor market that produce ideas of the moral, active resident, and (2) the concept integration is used with the purpose of retaining residents, producing notions of the loyal resident. Here, there appears to be an assumption that a moral, active resident will or is more likely to be a loyal resident, who not only comes to an area but stays despite possibilities to move. Within this context, integration is not framed as a goal in and of itself, but rather may be better understood as a means to an end: a solution to depopulation.

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Rural authenticity as cosmopolitan modernity?

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Personal, peaceful, progressive: Integration workers’ narratives of refugee settlement and the rural

Personal, peaceful, progressive: Integration workers’ narratives of refugee settlement and the rural

Immigrants’ Experiences of Settling in a Rural Community in Norway: Inclusion and Exclusion Through “Being Seen”

Integration as a Solution to Depopulation? Producing the Moral and Loyal Resident in Policies Aiming to Attract and Retain International Migrants

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