The semester in Stavanger is passing by in a flash. I tried not to have any expectations when coming to Norway and this country has embraced me warmly.
Still, every day when walking to the university, I am amazed by the beauty of the Norwegian landscape. At the beginning of March, the first snowdrops and crocuses are stretching towards the air, and it seemed to be the right point in time to reflect about my time in Stavanger.
Questioning the concept of integration. So far, the highlight of the semester in Stavanger was the first module about Migration and Integration. It was very refreshing to have class with only half of the students and to focus fully on one topic instead of having several simultaneous modules. The first part of the course focused on theorising migration in integration, then we looked at integration policies, and the third part of the course focused on integration, the welfare state and vulnerable groups.
I was surprised to learn that there is no widely accepted definition of integration in academia. We used, amongst other, the definition of Sarah Spencer who defines integration as the inclusion of immigrants into the majority population, with the goal of immigrants becoming functional members of the society, who participate in its development of an equal basis, and develop a sense of belonging on the local level. However, the concept of this majority of the society can also be challenged, because the very notion of a homogenous society which is integrated normatively by a consensus can be questioned.
Some scholars and policy makers thus prefer the terms inclusion or incorporation. I find it very difficult to study integration, because there is no universal model. Therefore, it is important to constantly assess existing practices and policies and research can contribute a lot to this field.
