Trotter, Stephen Richard (2019) Leavening Society: the Role of Religious Organisations in Integration Processes in Norway
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Trotter, Stephen Richard (2019) Leavening society: the role of religious organisations in integration processes in Norway. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/75116/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Leavening Society – The Role of Religious Organisations in Integration Processes in Norway Stephen Richard Trotter Master of Art (Social Sciences) , Master of Research Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social and Political Sciences, College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow March 2019 1 Abstract This thesis explores how religious organisations can influence integration processes in Norway through a case study of the Catholic Church, a Catholic charity, and a Catholic youth association. In order to fully understand the role of religious organisations, this thesis also examined secular identities/identifications/organisations and how, if at all, they diverge in influencing integration processes. I provide an extensive literature review that sets up a discursive framework, which allows me to draw together a range of concepts and understandings, and to critically analyse the findings in their appropriate context. The framework suggests a continuum of understanding integration processes, marked by three ideal types: a Redistributie Discourse of Exclusion (RED/Redintegration), a Social Integrationist Discourse (SID), and a Moral Underclass Discourse (MUD). Rather than imposing a view of integration processes on the participants and research, the discursive framework allows them to express nuanced understandings of how integration processes operate and how they may be shaped. Integration processes are processes of societal reconstitution, and require an in- depth exploration of the contexts in which they occur. With the religious/secular emphasis of the thesis, this entails exploring both constructions of the nation and the development of Catholicism in Norway. Utilising a range of qualitative methods, centred on ethnography, I gathered data from multiple organisations, religious and secular, and across multiple locations, over the course of fourteen months. This continuous, in-depth, qualitative research is essential to capturing the processual and contested nature of integration processes. What I discovered was that the perception of the end goal of integration processes was fundamental to how different organisations influenced integration processes. Similarly, what stood out was how the Social Integrationist Discourse was prevalent in both the secular and religious organisations. The functional emphasis of SID renders perspectives susceptible to Moral Underclass Discourses. The Church and its youth organisation, on the other hand, had a more open-ended perspective on integration processes, which was also expressed by the migrant research participants; exhibiting a Redintegrationist discourse. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................... I Acknowledgements ......................................................................... 8 Authors Declaration ........................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 – Introduction .................................................................. 11 1.1 – Leavening understandings of integration processes ......................... 11 1.2 – Aims and research questions .................................................... 13 1.3 – Thesis outline ..................................................................... 14 1.4 – Thesis contributions .............................................................. 17 Chapter 2 – Theoretical framework ..................................................... 18 2.1 – Introduction ....................................................................... 18 2.2 – Identification and categorisation – From individuals to groups ............ 21 2.2.1 – Religious identities, identifications, and categorisations ............. 23 2.2.2 – Ethnic identities, identifications, and categorisations ................. 25 2.2.3 – National identities, identifications, and categorisations .............. 29 2.3 – Migration and identity ........................................................... 35 2.4 – Integration processes – A conceptual forest .................................. 40 2.4.1 – Conceptual clarification .................................................... 40 2.4.2 – Religion and integration processes ........................................ 54 2.4.3 – Secularisation processes .................................................... 61 2.5 – Conclusion ......................................................................... 63 Chapter 3 – Methodology and methods ................................................. 65 3.1 – Introduction ....................................................................... 65 3.2 – Ethnography and the Manchester School ...................................... 66 3.2.1 – Veni – I came ................................................................. 66 3.2.2 – Vidi – I saw .................................................................... 69 3.2.3 – The Manchester School ..................................................... 70 3.3 – Multi-sited research .............................................................. 72 3.4 – Interviews and document analysis ............................................. 74 3.4.1 – Interviews ..................................................................... 74 3.4.2 – Document analysis ........................................................... 74 3.5 – Analytical considerations ........................................................ 76 3.5.1 – Methods ....................................................................... 76 3.5.2 – Fieldwork sites ............................................................... 77 3.5.3 – Data analysis ................................................................. 84 3.6 – Reflexivity ......................................................................... 86 3 3.7 – Ethics ............................................................................... 92 3.7.1 – Negotiating consent ......................................................... 92 3.7.2 – Participant awareness ...................................................... 93 3.7.3 – Participant anonymity ...................................................... 98 3.7.4 – Risk in social research ...................................................... 99 3.8 – Conclusion ........................................................................ 102 Chapter 4 – Contexts of mobility and integration ................................... 104 4.1 – Introduction ...................................................................... 104 4.2 – Demographics and (inter)national migration ................................ 106 4.3 – Who, what, where, when, and why? Interrogating migration ............. 116 4.3.1 – “Where are they from?” ................................................... 116 4.3.2 – “Why are they here?” and “What are they doing here?” ............. 129 4.4 – A policy of change and a change of policy ................................... 139 4.4.1 – The Norwegian welfare state ............................................. 139 4.4.2 – Immigration and integration policy changes ............................ 141 4.5 – Nordland, Bodø, and immigration and integration processes ............. 160 4.6 – Conclusion ........................................................................ 167 Chapter 5 – Separation of Church and State, but bringing people together? .... 170 5.1 – Introduction ...................................................................... 170 5.2 – The issue of affiliation and disaffiliation .................................... 171 5.3 – The Catholic Church in Norway – putting the Universal in the Local .... 178 5.3.1 – The return of the Church .................................................. 179 5.3.2 – Growth of the Church – Shepherd’s delight or warning? .............. 182 5.3.3 – ‘Unity within complex diversity’ ......................................... 192 5.4 – Conclusions ....................................................................... 198 Chapter 6 – Integration processes in faith-based settings .......................... 199 6.1 – Introduction ...................................................................... 199 6.2 – Diocesan processes .............................................................. 202 6.3 – Parochial processes ............................................................. 211 6.3.1 – ‘the price you pay for growing’ – Changes in a northern parish ..... 213 6.4 – NUK – Norwegians cooking rice and Vietnamese boiling potatoes ........ 223 6.5 – Caritas – ‘to not bake the same cake’ ........................................ 233 6.6 – Conclusion .......................................................................