Mobility encounter: The narratives of Burmese refugees in Norway

Abstract

The article examines the lived experiences of Burmese refugees in Norway in order to understand how they experience integration into local society and how they manage their transnational lives in new socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts. The examination is performed from the perspective of mobility as the entanglement of movement, representation, and practice. In teasing out the refugees' various experiences, the author emphasizes the diversity of migrant groups in terms of their ethnicity, religion, gender, and age, as well as multiple dimensions of mobilities. The complex politics of mobility – how different mobilities are produced, practised, and regulated in relation to issues such as transnational migration, diasporic cultures, and communication technologies – is seen as underlying the narratives of Burmese refugees in Norway. Their narratives equate mobilities with escape from poverty, highlighting the linkage that mobility has with poverty and development. The discussion reveals the potential for divisiveness within wider society in Norway, and it is argued that a nuanced understanding of how mobilities are differentially accessed within immigrant groups is essential for conceiving a multicultural society in Norway.

Keywords:

• Burmese refugees
• intersectionality
• mobility
• Norway

Notes

1 All quotes by the respondents have been translated by the author.