Third space epistemologies: Ethnicity and belonging in an ‘immigrant’-dominated upper secondary school in Norway

Abstract

This study explores typologies of modes of ethnic boundary-making among upper secondary school students in one school in Oslo, Norway, which has witnessed a seismic shift in its uptake of students who are mainly from non-White or ‘immigrant’ backgrounds. Wimmer’s typologies of modes of boundary-making – ‘contraction’ and ‘blurring’ – provide a useful heuristic framework to situate our findings. We employ an ethnographic approach in teasing out the challenges posed by a reconfiguration of majority–minority relations in an increasingly fragmented educational landscape where the elasticity of a discourse of egalitarianism has come under severe strain. Our study covers roughly two and a half school terms. Four classrooms in total – three first year classes and one final year class – have constituted the locus of study (91 students in total). The study finds that the stigma of difference is transvaluated into a discourse of empowerment.