We are not watermelons : "a case study among Iranian refugees with higher education from nrowegian institutions in Oslo"

Abstract

This MPhil thesis is based on a yearlong fieldwork among Iranian refugees in Oslo. The focus group of the project can be characterized as adult Iranian refugees who came to Norway unaccompanied with any close family or friends (alone immigrants). In summery, this thesis describes the importance of three central developments in life quality of Iranian refugees in host society. Firstly, the lack of an Iranian community. Secondly, a public sphere that is dominated by the negative representation of the minority groups, and thirdly, the impact of such representation on the cross sex relationship between the members of the minority and majority. In general, the main focus is towards the changes in Norwegian immigration policy and the following consequences of such changes on public debate in relation to issues concerning immigrants and refugees. At the centre of attention are the possible displacements of meaning being effected through media's representation of the "other", and the possible consequences of these processes. The importance of media in relation to the production of meaning (othering processes) regarding groups such as refugees and immigrants are argued by pointing to the lack of face-to-face interaction between the members of the minority and majority group. The argument is based on the idea that the lack of face-to-face interaction gives room to a social environment where the second hand information obtained though media is able to play an increasingly important role. The consequences of such othering processes are discussed in relation to the daily life experience of Iranian refugees in Norway. However, in order limit the scope of the thesis I decided to focus on the cross sex relationship between members of the minority and majority groups. How negative public representation leads to a situation where the Norwegian women do no longer perceive the Muslim (Iranian) men as their long term romantic partners. And what consequence can such exclusion have on the integration of Iranian men into the host society. In the end what become important are the difficulties that Iranian refugees experience in practicing a masculine identity (mannlighet) that is stigmatised in the public sphere.