Fields

Comparative Politics; Political Theory; Comparative Methods

Themes

Citizenship; Public Sphere; Political Boundaries; Europeanization and Globalization; Politics of Diversity, Mobility, and Identity; Diversity Theory and Methodology

Regional Focus

Europe and the European Union

Current Research Interest

Development of the EU political system (EU institutions, multi-level governance, EU-citizenship, mobility of persons, European identity, European Public Sphere)

European integration processes (emerging trans-European party systems, trans-European networks of civil society organizations, trans-European networks of think tanks)

European countries' institutions, laws and policies on citizenship, integration, immigration, refugeehood, and political asylum

Courses taught

Sampol 100 - Introduction to Comparative Politics (2009, 2010)

Sampol 207 - Citizenship: Theories and Policies (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018)

Sampol 250/260 - Bachelor Thesis Writing (2009, 2010, 2017-2021)

Sampol 318 - European Politics (2010, 2011)

Sampol 334 - The Publics of Europe and the Eurpean Public Sphere (2018)

Sampol 340 - European Integration (2012)

Sampol 343 - European Integration and Transnationalization (2013, 2014)

Sampol 250/260 - Supervision of BA-degree theses (since 1999)

Sampol 350 - Supervision of MA-degree theses (since 1999)

Sampol 350 - Supervision of MA-degree theses (since 1999)

Supervision of PhD-degree theses (since 2007)

Supervised PhD Theses

Pamir, Mete 2011, Remapping Ottoman Modernity: Civilizational Theory and State Formation, Comparative Politics (Main supervisor)

Folkestad, Bjarte 2012, What is Euroscepticism and why are parties Euro-sceptical?Comparative Politics (Co-supervisor)

Bygnes, Susanne 2013, Diversity Dilemmas – Majority Approaches to Societal Diversity in Norway and Europe, Sociology (Co-supervisor)

Perez, Marybel, 2014, The European Union's Socializing Institutions: The Role of EU Think Tanks in EU Policymaking, Comparative Politics (Main supervisor)

Tønnevold, Camilla 2016, National Media and Public Debate on Citizenship and Integration in a Multicultural Europe, Media Studies (Co-supervisor)

Supervised MA Theses

Kveinen, Else 2000, Beyond external exclusion? An analysis of normative and ontological reflections on territorial exclusion in the modern states-system and the European Union.

Surhke, Ida 2001, Equal and different: politics of integration and Muslim requests for recognition in Norway.

Høibo, Karoline 2004, Inkludering av innvandrere i norske kommuner : en studie av statlig og kommunal diskurs om mål og middel

Bonde, Ane Tusvik, 2005, Fra sovjetisk protest til russisk prosess : En analyse av drivkreftene bak europeiseringen av Russland, belyst gjennom arbeidet med reform av straffeprosessloven 1989-2001.

Ursin, Lars Holger, 2006, Tankemeklerne. Norske og amerikanske tankesmier i et komparativt perspektiv.

Bentsen, Anne Cecilie 2007, Strategisk tilpasning eller vedvarende sosial-isering? En analyse av effekten av påvirkning fra OSSE, Europarådet og EU på latvisk minoritetspolitikk fra 1991 til 2006.

Kjellevold, Silje 2009, Immigrasjon og integrasjon i Europa.

Ryssedal, Ingvild 2010, Vinnarar og taparar i europeisk integrasjon? Ein analyse av regionalpolitikken i EU sin innverknad på økonomi og velstandsutviklinga i Polen.

Vatnehol, Alice Jeanette 2010, A Time of Change? A Comparative Analysis of the EU’s Influence on Minority Rights in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Fiksdal, Iver 2011, "It's not about winning, it's about participating". Uncovering the determinants of regional participation in the policy-making structures of the European Union.

Holte, Magnus 2011, Med én fot innenfor: hvordan norske interesseaktører jobber i Brussel.

Braaten, Aare 2013, En fremtid under overvåking- Hvordan Norges forhold til EU vises i implementeringsprosessen rundt Datalagringsdirektivet.

Morvik, Ole Andreas 2013, The Nordic Model: Assessing its robustness and the effects of the global financial crisis.

Gravdal, Terje 2014, The road towards 2020: A multiple case study on the implementation of the RES-Directive in Estonia, Latvia and Norway and the factors affecting their performance towards meeting the 2020 renewable energy targets.

Knutsen, Tonje Støver, 2019, Norsk høyreekstremisme på Facebook 

Stavnes, Einar Døvik, 2019, Høyrepopulistiske partier i regjering: effekten på valgoppslutning og politikk

Hastensgrad, Synøve Linnea, 2019, “An island of controversy in a calm sea of legitimacy and trust”. Unveiling the political discourses used by Norwegian parliamentary parties to legitimize the establishment and continuation of immigration detention procedures at Trandum Police Holding Facility

Kristoffersen, Eva Marit, 2021, A Reaffirmed Call for Responsibility-Sharing Determinants of Responsibility-Sharing after the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees. 

Christensen, Hanne Iglebæk, 2022, International Protection of Refugees and the UN Global Compacts A Case Study of Governance and Non-State Actors in Greece

Aarset, Runa Sekse, 2022, The Governance of Migration in Melilla

Books

2016 Integration, Diversity and the Making of the European Public Sphere. Cheltenham and Camberley & Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

2010 Quo Vadis, Europe?. Bratislava: Vydavatelstvo Ekonom (with Dudas, Tomas; Edvardsson, Ingi Runar; Fløttum, Kjersti; Knutsen, Terje; Knutsson, Ogmundur; Lipkova, L'udmila; Zagorsekova, Marta).

2008 Do Our Citizenship Requirements Impede the Protection of Political Asylum Seekers? A Comparative Analysis of European Practices. Edwin Mellen Press, New York.

2007 Glocalization and Participation Dilemmas in EU and Small States. Community Research Series, Eur 23143. European Commission, Brussels.

2006 What Happens When a Society is Diverse? Exploring Multidimensional Identities. Studies in Political Science 30. The Edwin Mellen Press, New York. Co-edited w/ Y. Lithman.

2005 Changing the Basis of Citizenship in the Modern State. Political Theory and the Politics of Diversity. Sociology Series. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press. Co-edited w/ Y. Lithman.

2004 Standardized Research Tools for Data Collection, Data Analysis, Measuring the Quality of Citizenships in European Countries. Glocalmig-Series Vol.1. Bergen: BRIC.

2004 Belonging and the Quality of Citizenships: A Comparative Study of Six European Countries. Glocalmig Series Vol. 8. Bergen: BRIC.

Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals and Edited Books

2024 (with Pierre Van Wolleghem) Recognizing international protection.. How institutional arrangements affect asylum decisions. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies CJMS. Accepted and forthcoming at https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2429665

2024 (with Sara Hanke, Pierre Van Wolleghem, Raphael Heiberger). Policy Actors’ Struggle for Attention: The Role of Peer Networks in the Migration Discourse on Twitter (X). Nonprofit Policy Forum. https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2023-0126

2023 (with Cornelius Cappelen and Pierre Van Wolleghem) The trade-off between admitting and paying: Experimental evidence on attitudes towards asylum responsibility-sharing. European Union Politics, 24:3.

2022 (with Pierre Van Wolleghem). Asylum seekers in the machinery of the state: administrative capacity vs. political preferences. A comparative study of recognition rates in EU member states. European Union Politics. DOI: 10.1177/14651165221135113/ ID: EUP-22-2055.R1

2022 (with Raphael H. Heiberger). Between Europeanism and Nativism: Exploring a Cleavage Model of European Public Sphere in Social Media. Javnost - The Public (ahead-of-print, 1-19). https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2022.2067724

2022 (with Heiberger, Raphael H.; Sara Schmitt; Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem). Do Policy Actors Influence Political Communication on Refugee Protection in Social Media? A Comparison of the UNHCR and the EU on Twitter. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6483940 

2022 (with Van Wolleghem, Pierre G.). The Role of the Quality of the Administration in Asylum Decision-making. Comparing Recognition Rates in EU Member States. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6334203  

2022 (with Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Raphael Heiberger; Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem; Mike Farjam; Sara Schmitt). Promoting international solidarity: handling public opinion and social media pressure on policymaking on international protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6475466  

2022 (with Pierre Van Wolleghem). The Effect of Ideological Orientations on Policy Preferences regarding Refugee Protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications.

2022 (with Cornelius Cappelen and Pierre Van Wolleghem) An experimental study of the attitudes toward responsibility-sharing in refugee protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. 

2022 (with Cornelius Cappelen and Pierre Van Wolleghem). Comparing the attitudes towards bogus asylum seekers who get protection and genuine asylum seekers who don’t get protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications.

2022 (with Eva Marit Kristoffersen). Are the UN Member States Committed to the Global Refugee Compact's International Solidarity Norm?. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7147771

2021 Conceptualizing the Right to International Protection: A Cleavage Theory Approach. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6483148 

2021 A Comparative Research Framework for Studying the Global Refugee Compact's Impact on International Protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6483183 

2021 (with Idil Atak). Devising the Policy Tools of a Human Rights-Based International Protection System. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6483214 

2021 (with Elspeth Guild; Nicolette Busuttil; Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem). Devising Governance Mechanisms for International Refugee Protection. PROTECT Consortium Preprint Publications. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6475333

2017 Is the European Public Sphere Good for Democracy? Forthcoming in Y. Peters and M. Tatham (eds) Democratic Transformations in Europe 31 - Challenges and Opportunities. Abingdon: Routledge.

2016 Preface to H.G. Sicakkan (ed.) Integration, Diversity and the Making of a European Public Sphere. Cheltenham and Camberley & Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar

2016 An Agonistic Pluralism Approach to the European Public Sphere. In H.G. Sicakkan (ed.) Integration, Diversity and the Making of a European Public Sphere. Cheltenham and Camberley & Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

2016 European State-building, Top-down Elite Alliances and the National Media. In H.G. Sicakkan (ed.) Integration, Diversity and the Making of a European Public Sphere. Cheltenham and Camberley & Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

2016 The role of EU policies in the making of the European public sphere. In H.G. Sicakkan (ed.) Integration, Diversity and the Making of a European Public Sphere. Cheltenham and Camberley & Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

2013 "Linking the European Union with its Citizens". In Sicakkan, HG (ed) Linking the European Union with the Citizens. Evaluation of the EU’s Policies Aiming to Create a Democratic European Public Sphere. Eurosphere Series, Vol. 2013(1) s. 1-5. Brussels: The Eurosphere Consortium.

2013 "The Contested European Public Sphere". In Sicakkan, HG (ed) Linking the European Union with the Citizens. Evaluation of the EU’s Policies Aiming to Create a Democratic European Public Sphere. Eurosphere Papers, Vol. 2013(1) s. 252-263. Brussels: The Eurosphere Consortium.

2012 Diversity, Polity and the European Public Sphere. Javnost-The Public 19(1): 5-18.

2012 The French Republican Model, the European Diversity Perspective and the European Public Sphere. Social Science Information 51(3): 418-47 (w/ W. Dressler, A. Fuga, V. Mitroi, L. Terrazzoni).

2012 Trans-Europeanizing Public Spaces in Europe. Javnost-The Public, 19(1): 103-124.

2012 The Rights of Refugees. In Cushman, Thomas (ed.) Handbook of Human Rights. London: Routledge.

2011 (with Ulf Hedetoft) On the birth and profile of the Nordic journal of migration research. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 1(1) pp.1-3

2011 (with Zografova, Yolanda) Citizens Impact on the Articulation of a European Public Sphere: Explaining Citizens’ attitudes to European Integration. Eurosphere Papers 4.1

2011 Trans-Europeanizing Spaces in the European Public Sphere. Eurosphere Papers 6.4.

2010 The Geopolitical Foundations of European Identities. In Dudas et al (ed.) Quo Vadis, Europe?.Bratislava: Vydavatelstvo Ekonom. ISBN 978-80-225-3031-6. s. 95-119

2010 Measuring Attitudes to Immigrants with Diversity Methodology. Eurosphere Papers 19

2010 Diversity and the European Public Sphere. The Case of Norway. Country Study No.1, Eurosphere Papers

2008 Political Asylum and Sovereignty-Sharing in Europe. Government and Opposition 43(2): pp. 206-229.

2008 Political Asylum and the Multi-Level, Plural Forms of Sovereignty in Europe. Eurosphere Papers 1(7).

2008 The Boundaries of Political Rights in Europe. Eurosphere Papers 1.(4)

2008 Positioning the Diversity Perspective. Eurosphere Papers 1.(1)

2006 Mangfold og den offentlige sfære (Diversity and the Public Sphere). Stat & Styring 16(3): 45-49 (October).

2006 Glocal Spaces as Prototypes of a Future Diverse Society: An Exploratory Study in Six European Countries. In What Happens When a Society is Diverse? (pp.105-148) (see under books)

2006 Introduction: Diversity and Multidimensional Identities. In What Happens When a Society is Diverse? (pp.1-12) (see under books).

2005 Foreword to Journal Special Issue on “Minorities, Minority Politics, and the European Union”. Norwegian Journal of Migration Research 5(2): 7-9.

2005 Senses That Make Noise & Noises That Make Sense. Three Techniques for Scaling Attitudes to Immigration. Norwegian Journal of Migration Research, 5(1) (May): 42-73.

2005 State Formation, Nation Building and Citizenship in Modern West European History. In Changing the Basis of Citizenship in the Modern State (pp.37-62) (see under books)

2005 Politics of Identity and Modes of Belonging. An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Challenges. In Changing the Basis of Citizenship in the Modern State (pp.1-36) (see under books)

2005 Theorizing Identity Politics, Belonging Modes and Citizenship. In Changing the Basis of Citizenship in the Modern State (pp. 197-226) (see under books)

2004 The Modern State, the Citizen and the Perilous Refugee. Journal of Human Rights 3(4): 445-463.

2003 Politics, Wisdom and Diversity. Or Why I don’t want to be tolerated? Norwegian Journal of Migration Research, 2003/1 (April): 32-44.

2000 Turkish Republicanism in the Light of Citizenship and Political Identity Models. In Bilgin, Nuri, (ed.) Demokrasi, Yurttaslik ve Kimlik Baglaminda Cumhuriyet. Izmir: Aegean University Press (pp.188-201)

1996 Three Models of Alien in Political Theory. An Evaluation of the Methodological and Conceptual Tools Provided by Fredrik Barth and Stein Rokkan. In J.C. Knudsen (ed.) Equality and Exclusion: Challenges for Migration Research. Nordic Council of Ministers. Copenhagen: TemaNord (pp.153-165).

Scientific Reports

2013 Eurosphere Final Report “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.6. University of Bergen.

2012 Eurosphere Periodic Report V. “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.5. University of Bergen.

2011 Eurosphere Periodic Report IV. “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.4. University of Bergen.

2010 Eurosphere Periodic Report III. “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.3. University of Bergen.

2010 (with T. Kvamme and A. Kutay) Missing Values and Inconsistent Coding in the Eurosphere Interview Data. Eurosphere Research Note 43.

2009 Interface for the transnational NGOs. Eurosphere Research Note 44.

2009 (with A. Kutay and Å. Gilje Østensen) Eurosphere Media Registration Interface. Eurosphere Research Note 37.

2009 (with A. Kutay and T. Kvamme) Eurosphere Institutional Data Registration Interface for Political Parties/SMOs/Think Tanks. Eurosphere Research Note 38.

2009 (with A. Alvarez-Venquier and M. Klicperova-Baker) Standard Format for Country Reports. Eurosphere Research Note 40.

2009 Coding Rules and Procedures for Online Registration of Eurosphere Interview Data. Eurosphere Research Note 41.2008 A Proposal on Guidelines for Selection of Actors and Respondents. Eurosphere Research Note 9.

2009 Eurosphere Periodic Report II. “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.2. Unifob Global/University of Bergen.

2008 Eurosphere Periodic Report I. “Executive Summary, Objectives and Achievements in Research and Management Issues”. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research, Eurosphere Reports No.1. Unifob Global/University of Bergen.

2008 A Proposal on Guidelines for Eurosphere Field Researchers. Eurosphere Research Note 11.

2008 A Proposal for Measuring the Main Variables in Eurosphere. Eurosphere Research Note 12.

2008 (ed.): Long List of Relevant Social and Political Actors Relevant for Eurosphere Research. Eurosphere Research Note 13.

2008 A Frame for Data Collection on Institutional Features of Political Parties, Think Tanks and SMOs/NGOs. Eurosphere Research Note 24.

2008 Dimensions of Institutional Data Collection on Print and Broadcast Media Actors. Eurosphere Research Note 25.

2008 (with C. Tønnevold) Media Codebook II and Coding Sheet II For Print and Broadcast Media Variables (V16-V22). Eurosphere Research Note 28.

2008 (with M. Mokre and V. Bader): Eurosphere Elite Interview Questions. Eurosphere Research Note 30.

2008 (with M. Mokre, V. Bader, A. Kutay and S. Bygnes) Eurosphere Elite Interview Questions for Trans-European Networks of NGO/SMO, Think Tanks and Political Parties. Eurosphere Research Note 31.

2008 (with M. Mokre, and V. Bader) Shortened Eurosphere Elite Interview Questions. Eurosphere Research Note 32.

2008 Eurosphere Media Content Analysis: Reliability Check Report Sample Representativeness, Theme Selection, Source Identification and Interpretive Variables (V16-V24). Eurosphere Research Note 35.

2008 Eurosphere Interview Data Registration Interface. Eurosphere Research Note 36.

2004 Migrants, Minorities, Belongings and Citizenship: Glocalmig Final Report. Glocalmig Deliverable no.10. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research. IMER N/B, Center for Development Studies, University of Bergen.

2003 Migrants, Minorities, Belongings and Citizenship: Six Country Reports. Glocalmig Deliverables no.4-9. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research. IMER N/B, Center for Development Studies, University of Bergen.

2003 Migrants, Minorities, Belongings and Citizenship: An Introduction to QC-CITBASE. An Overview of the Dimensions in Glocalmig's Database. Glocalmig Deliverable No.3. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research. IMER N/B, Center for Development Studies, University of Bergen.

2003 Migrants, Minorities, Belongings and Citizenship: Glocalmig Research Tools. Glocalmig Deliverables No.1-2. Scientific report submitted to the European Commission DG-Research. IMER N/B, Center for Development Studies, University of Bergen.

1999 Senses That Make Noise & Noises That Make Sense: Three Techniques for Scaling Norwegian Responses to Immigration: A Comparison of Results from Applications of Mokken, Factor and Cluster-Discrimant Models, Bergen: IMER N/B Publications.

1999 The Political-Historical Roots of West European Models of Citizen and Alien: An Application of Qualitative Comparative Analysis on Macro Historical Data, Bergen: IMER N/B Publications.

1998 Rasisme mellom kommunitarisme og republikanisme: En kvantitativ analyse av holdninger til innvandrere i Hordaland/Norge, Bergen: IMER N/B Publications.

EUROSPHERE - Diversity and the European Public Sphere. Towards a Citizens' Europe (FP6)

EUROSPHERE (2007-2013) was an integrated project funded within the European Union's 6th Framework Programme.

Eurosphere sought to develop new perspectives about European public spheres and identify the factors that facilitate or hinder the articulation of inclusive European public spheres. Public spheres are understood as different networks, arenas and spaces of communication and interaction where political institutions, social and political actors, and citizens meet and interact with each other. In this connection, focus is specifically be on political parties, social movements, think tanks, and media as well as the specific forms and spaces of interaction these actors create.

The research team also aimed to define the areas of contestation and conflict in politicians’ attempts to develop new public spheres. This was done in connection with assessments of the feasibility of five different models of such social arenas and the feasibility of supranational strategies for articulating diverse European public spheres.

The research plan comprised synchronized data collection in 16 countries, comparative data analysis and assessment activities as well as the creation of a Eurosphere Knowledge Base with data and findings on the condition of the European Public Sphere and European Citizenship, and a large collection of academic publications.

In addition to research activities, Eurosphere initiated two policy-targeted EuroForums and organized four international conferences. It also organised training programmes for young researchers participating in the Eurosphere research, as well as summer courses for junior researchers about Eurosphere’s theories, methods, and results in order to create an impact beyond the duration of the project.

The Eurosphere consortium comprised about 150 researchers from 17 universities and research institutes from 16 countries across Europe. The five-year project is funded with €4,1 mill. (NOK33 mill.) by the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. The project is also supported by the Norwegian Research Council (NOK6 Mill) and the University of Bergen (two PhD scholarships and additional personnel resources).

Principal Partners

• Hakan G. Sicakkan, Eurosphere Research Director, UiB, Norway
• Atle Alvheim, Norwegian Social Science Data Services, Norway
• Michael Bommes, University of Osnabrueck, Germany
• Andras Bozoki, Central European University, Hungary
• Eric Remacle, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
• Wanda Dressler, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, France
• Martina Klicperova-Baker, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Peter Kraus, University of Helsinki, Finland
• Mikko Lagerspetz, Tallinn University, Estonia
• Monika Mokre, Austrian Academy of Science, Austria
• Ahmet Öncü, Sabanci Üniversitesi, Turkey
• Giuseppe Sciortino, Università degli studi di Trento, Italy
• Birte Siim, Aalborg University, Denmark
• Aurora Alvarez Venguer, Granada University, Spain
• Floris Vermuelen, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Cardiff University, UK
• Yolanda Zografova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

EUROELITES - Europeanization of the Norwegian Public Sphere

This project was a local extension of Eurosphere. It is co-funded by the Norwegian Research Council, the University of Bergen, and the Social Sciences Faculty. By extending the Norwegian part of Eurosphere, it aimed to assess how selected Norwegian social and political actors attempt to influence the debates in and about the European public sphere as well as how “European” they themselves become in this process. This project involves four PhD-projects:

1. Bjarte Folkestad’s doctoral project is ‘Political Parties and Europe: A Study of Euroscepticism in Nordic and Central Eastern European political parties’. An important question he will answer is why some political parties are eurosceptic, and the consequences of political parties’ euroscepticism for the development of a European public sphere.

2. Camilla M. Tønnevold's doctoral project "National media and public debate on citizenship and integration in a multicultural Europe” concentrates on what contributions the national media offer as a social actor on a European level with respect to the 'hot topics' of Europe and its nation-states: immigration policies, citizenship and belonging.

3. Susanne Bygnes will in her doctoral project investigate to what degree different approaches to diversity influence the boundary work of social movements in the relation to the national and the EU: can some perspectives on, and practices of, diversity systematically be tied to certain visions of Norway as a nation state or a part of a European community?

4. Marybel Perez will in her doctoral project examine cohabitation models advocated by think tanks interested in influencing EU agenda identity formation and immigration. This research considers think tanks to be reflection on how European citizens and institutions feel about diversity and immigration and to play a key role in the construction of the coexistence model in the EU.

All these PhD-projects constitute a new, larger project which will develop parallel with the Eurosphere research. This project shares personnel resources with Eurosphere for nine months during the data collection phase, and after data collection, they go their own ways in order to answer their own research questions with their own resources.

People

• Hakan G Sicakkan, Project Leader, Comparative Politics
• Alena Koslerova, Administrative Coordinator, Unifob Global'
• Acar Kutay, Researcher, Comparative Politics
• Bjarte Folkestad, PhD Scholar, Comparative Politics
• Camilla M Tønnevold, PhD Scholar, Media Studies
• Susanne Bygnes, PhD Scholar, Sociology'
• Marybel Perez, PhD Scholar, Comparative Politics
• Lars Svåsand, Advisor for Folkestad, Comparative Politics
• Jostein Gripsrud, Advisor for Tønnevold, Media Studies
• Mette Andersson, Advisor for Susanne Bygnes, Sociology

QUO VADIS, EUROPE?

The main pbjective of this international collaborative project is to bring together students, Ph.D. students, researchers and experts from 3 European countries (Slovakia, Iceland and Norway) and perform thorough research in the field of economic, political and cultural future of European continent. The output of such cooperation should enrich the scientific knowledge and lead to preparing a joint scientific publication. Each partner is expected to participate with a group of 10 people, consisting of 4 students, 4 PhD. students and 2 professors or any other balanced combination totaling 10. The students should be chosen in an essay writing contest open to all students of the participating institutions. The project will consist of 3 interconnected phases: Stability, Prosperity and Culture. Each of these phases will begin with consultations and will culminate with a workshop and international conference hosted by one of the partner universities. Each phase can be divided as follows:

PRELIMINARY STAGE: defining questions, online consultations, creating and comparing positions, studying and exchanging information on the topic

WORKSHOP: building mixed teams, discussing the topic in panels, creating optimistic, neutral and pessimistic scenarios on the development of the topic

STAGE OF EVALUATION: providing feedback, discussing the outcome of cooperation, preparing studies to be published After concluding all the phases the project will culminate by publishing an international study on the topic.

The project is coordinated by The Faculty of International Relations in Bratislava. The other two partners are University of Akureyri (Iceland) and the University of Bergen. The local coordinators at the University of Bergen are Hakan G. Sicakkan and Kjersti Fløttum.

Project Participants from UiB

Academic Staff

• Prof. Kjersti Fløttum
• Assoc.Prof. Hakan G. Sicakkan

PhD Candidates

• Mr Himanshu Ardawatia
• Ms Susanne Bygnes
• Ms Agnese Cimdina
• Mr Espen Dale
• Mr Bjarte Folkestad
• Mr Acar Kutay
• Ms Marybel Perez
• Ms Camilla Tønnevold

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

The Board of Nordic Migration Research and the Norwegian Journal of Migration Research have agreed that, starting in 2010, NTMF becomes Nordic, undergoes a name-change to Nordic Journal of Migration Research, and will from then on be published by NMR as an English-only, peer-reviewed international journal.

The new Journal will publish high-quality research in the areas of migration theory and empirically-oriented analyses of migratory processes, integration policies and intercultural relations. It will give high priority to Nordic issues and comparative studies of integration in Nordic and non-Nordic countries. It will occasionally publish guest-edited Special Issues devoted to particular themes or theoretical problems.

The new Nordic journal will publish up to four issues a year. From 1 August 2009, we will accept articles in English with a view to publishing them in the new Nordic journal. Articles in English that have been submitted to NTMF and are still in process by the end of 2009, will be transferred to the pool of articles reviewed by the editorial board of the NMR Journal.
Membership of NMR comprises a subscription to the NMR Journal.

Professor Ulf Hedetoft (University of Copenhagen) and Associate Professor Hakan G. Sicakkan (University of Bergen) are Editors-in-Chief of the new Nordic Journal.