It is time for another IMER lunch seminar. This time, it is about a recent event: The remarkable story about how the Islamic Council of Norway was torn into two, after 25 years of existence. Olav Elgvin will be giving a presentation based on recent fieldwork.

In Western Europe, representative Islamic councils have been seen as important policy instruments. By relying on dialogue with representative Islamic councils, it has been assumed that authorities and Muslim minority groups may be able to interact in a better way. But in most European countries, these councils have been highly unstable, with frequent conflicts and splits.

Why have these conflicts occurred? In his presentation, Elgvin will look in detail at the case of the Islamic Council of Norway. Between 1993 and 2017 it functioned as the umbrella organization for most of the mosques in Norway. It was unique in Western Europe in that close to all the mosques and the major Islamic organizations took part. It had maintained dialogue activities with various other life stance communities. It received funding from the state. It had built up a successful halal franchise.

In 2017, all of this changed. Several of the largest member mosques broke out. They lost the funding from the state. Their main partner in the halal franchise cut ties with them. Relations between authorities and Islamic organizations were thrown into disarray. How did all of this happen?

Place: Christies gate 17, the meeting room at the second floor of “Adm. org.”.  Time: 20.02, 12.30 to 14.00.

As usual, a light lunch will be served. All are welcome!

Olav Elgvin is a PhD candidate at the Department for Comparative Politics. He is also the coordinator of IMER.

Yemen is currently experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, due to war and pressure on resources.  This could lead one to expect a massive movement of refugees out of the country. Still, only a small number of Yemeni refugees have tried to reach Europe. Why?  This question is difficult to answer, and the potential factors are many and diverse. Eirik Hovden, a specialist on Yemen, will in this presentation provide geographical and historical background information about Yemen, and explore the developments leading up to the current conflict.

Note: The seminar takes place at the seminar room of Adm. org., at Christies gate 17, on the 4th of Octobre from 12.30 to 14.00.

A lunch will be served.

Welcome!

Eirik Hovden is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at UiB. He specializes on Islamic law in Yemen.

On the evening of Thursday 01.06, IMER is co-hosting an important event in Bergen. How do Syrian refugees experience migration into Bergen and Norway? This is is the topic of a large public town hall meeting at Kvarteret. Organized by Josh Dickstein from IMER Bergen, this event brings together Syrian refugees with local practicioners from the Bergen area. This is an opportunity to hear voices that are seldom heard in the public debate.

Here is a link to the event on facebook.

Welcome!

How is identity connected to jihadi radicalisation? The esteemed sociologist Riva Kastoryano from Sciences Po in Paris is coming to IMER to explore this question. She argues that jihadis are driven by an identity narrative on their belonging to the ummah, the reimagined worldwide Muslim community in which national, religious and wordly attachments are all jumbled together. Different cases of jihadi radicalization have in common this larger issue of belonging, that connects citizenship with transnational networks and an imagined diaspora.

The seminar takes place at the seminar room at the ground floor of Sosiologisk institutt, Rosenberggaten 39. A lunch will be served.

Welcome!

Riva Kastoryano is a research director at the Center for International Studies and Research at Sciences Po, Paris.

The au pair institution has recently become a hot political topic in Norway. Different actors have called for disbanding the au pair institution, or for making changes to it. But what are the experiences the au pairs in Norway themselves? Out of the roughly 3000 au pairs in Norway, about 90 percent are from the Philippines. In this lunch seminar, Mariya Stoyanova Bikova will share findings from her recently finished PhD seminars about Filipino au pairs in Norway. How are their experiences shaped the egalitarian ideals in Norway, and the expectations from their families?

The seminar takes place in the Seminar Room at the Department of Sociology, Rosenberggata 39, on the 14th of March from 12.30 to 14.00.

A lunch will be served.

Mariya Bikova is assistant professor at the Department of Sociology, UiB.