Protection Seekers’ Lived Experience of Vulnerability in Times of Stricter Migration Policy: The Case of Norway

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Trøblete utenlandsopphold. Barn og unge voksne tilbakeholdt i utlandet: fenomenforståelse og oppfølging

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‘Are we not human?!’ Human dignity in the lived experience of poor, Roma women, in Oslo

This research projects investigates the construction of human dignity in the lived experience of poor, Roma women in Oslo, Norway. It seeks to contribute to a more inclusive, less abstract interpretation of human dignity, taking into account the inner perspectives, lived experiences, and knowledge of persons unheard in current debates on human dignity. It shows that, while the theoretical interpretation of human dignity remains abstract, the construction of human dignity in the lived experience is complex, diverse and multifaceted. Poor, Roma women describe a gain or loss of human dignity in terms of personal integrity, autonomy of the person, group culture, basic needs, non-discrimination, and suffering. These components of human dignity, however, are rich, contextual, and interconnected, and cannot be easily separated in the lived experience. The gain or loss of human dignity is related to the women s inner perspectives, experiences, and identity, to their relationships, and to the environment.

The pains of crimmigration imprisonment: Perspectives from a Norwegian all-foreign prison

In the second part of his article on Scandinavian exceptionalism, John Pratt identified certain developments that might undermine the exceptional status of Scandinavian prisons and penal culture. A major problem looming on the horizon, according to Pratt, was the effects of globalization on Scandinavian societies. Since then, scholars have claimed that a bifurcation is emerging in the Norwegian correctional system, with humane and inclusive punishments reserved for nationals, while a more exclusionary alternative system is being developed to respond to the perceived challenge represented by foreign nationals. The opening of Norway’s first all-foreign prison in 2013 has been seen as part of this trend. In this article, we describe three pains of imprisonment experienced by foreign national prisoners: those of (1) discrimination; (2) long-distance relationships; and (3) deportability. We argue that these are all specifically tied to the prison’s status as an allforeign prison. The final version of this research has been published in British Journal of Criminology. © 2017 Oxford University Pres

A difference that makes a difference? Reflexivity and researcher effects in an all-foreign prison

Today, researchers are expected to spend considerable energy describing and discussing their own social positions and personas in the field for at least two reasons: First, researchers always observe the field from a specific point of view. Their perspective is structured by their own social position and biography and is thus unique. Second, the people in the field react differently to the presence of different researchers. The field persona of the researcher is expected to impact the data she or he is able to produce. For these reasons, critically discussing one’s own field experiences is seen as an important part of the qualitative research process. This article will discuss the second part of this argument. Based on the experiences of two different researchers in the same field site, we ask whether it is true that different researchers necessarily produce different data. We conclude that in this case, at least, the differences between the two researchers did not seem to make much of a difference

‘Without Papers I Can’t Do Anything’: The Neglected Role of Citizenship Status and ‘Illegality’ in Intersectional Analysis

Intersectionality scholarship has yet to systematically recognize the importance of citizenship status for the mutual shaping of inequalities. In this article, we bring attention to the combined structuring force of criminal law and citizenship status (and the related concepts of ‘illegal’ or ‘irregular’ status) in intersecting with other categories of social disadvantage, such as those created by racialization, class, gender and ethnicity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with women in prisons for ‘foreign nationals’ and health clinics for ‘undocumented’ migrants in Norway and Denmark, this article shows how citizenship status has a central role in the co-constitution of gendered, classed and racialized social disadvantages