Introduction
What has happened in the northern territories of the Russian north and Norway from a social-cultural point of view during the last two decades? Have these territories been transformed? One thing is certain. The period from 1990 to the present day is important, in many respects, both for the development of the Russian economy, for social welfare policy and for the simultaneous renewal of Russian-Norwegian contacts after the ‘cold war’ period. The inter-relations and mutual contact between ordinary individuals and families living on either side of the Russian-Norwegian border have become increasingly active (Tevlina Reference Tevlina2009: 54–56). The ‘thaw’ has given people in both countries the opportunity to meet, and not only to communicate with one another, but also to study, work, create families, migrate and, one could say, even to initiate a new stage in the interaction between the two countries (Rogova Reference Rogova2008: 5–7).
This study of the situation of children-immigrants in northern Norway concerns not only the question of their well being, but to a certain degree also the Norwegian inhabitants’ relations to the immigrants at large. And an answer to the question will be sought concerning how the mutual relations between this young generation of immigrants and the surrounding core population are developing after the end of the cold war.
Theoretical framework
There are several theories that can help in considering social-cultural aspects of immigration, and in estimating how children can adapt to the environment in a new country. There are internal and external factors in this connection. Internal factors are how the child is feeling himself/herself in the new place, what s/he is content or not content with, what s/he would still like to obtain, is dreaming about and so on (Vygotskii Reference Vygotskii1982; Leont'ev Reference Leont'ev1983). External factors are conditions which help the child-immigrant to feel himself/herself comfortable or uncomfortable, that is conditions of life, learning, employment, social company and so on.
For analysis of the external factors we will use some concepts from the general theory of assimilation of immigrants, as it was developed during the last decades of the 20th century (Penn and Lambert Reference Penn and Lambert2009). These help us in considering the social-cultural aspects of the immigration theme, especially with relation to children. The theory of ‘assimilation of immigrants’ is constituted by: a) the theory of assimilation; b) the theory of multi-culturalism; c) the theory of hybridity; and d) the theory of different types of integration.
The theory of assimilation points to the possibility that the child can easily be included in the society and culture of the new country, and that the immigrants after 2–3 generations will merge with the population at large, and thereby no conflicts will persist between the values the immigrants carry with them and the values of the new country (Gordon Reference Gordon1964). The theory of multi-culturalism is based on the idea that the receiving country can make conditions favourable for the immigrants to continue to cultivate their original language, religion and culture. In other words it is based on the idea of a harmonious interaction between different ethnic and cultural groups within a pluralistic society (Baumann Reference Baumann1999; Kelly Reference Kelly2002; Modood Reference Modood2007). And the theory of hybridity points to the possibility that the meeting between immigrants and the new society will change not only the immigrants but also to a certain extent the receiving population. When studying the case of Russian children settling down in Norway all these three theories should be taken into consideration, and also the fourth listed above, the theory of different types of integration, to which we will return in due course (Bhabha Reference Bhabha1990; Kalra and others Reference Kalra, Kaur and Hutnyk2005; Kuortti Reference Kuortti and Nyman2007).
Migration from northwest Russia to northern Norway
At the beginning of the 21st century a distinctive feature of the province of Finnmark and especially of Sør-Varanger, the Norwegian municipality closest to the border with Russia, is the high proportion of Russian immigrants out of the total number of immigrants from non-European Union countries. In Finnmark, they constitute 67% of non-EU immigrants, and in Sør-Varanger about 85% of this group; or expressed differently, they exceed the same indicator for the whole of Norway by 10–12 times (Statistisk Sentralbyra i Norge 2000–2009). The proportion of immigrants in Norway on 1 January 2010 constituted 11.4% of the total number of inhabitants; in Sør-Varanger, this proportion is roughly the same, at around 10%. In Norway, altogether, there are 14,673 immigrants from Russia, of whom 13,470 remain Russian citizens. In addition, 1403 persons have been born to Russian parents in Norway. Thus, at the end of 2009, Russian immigrants comprised about 7% of non-European Union immigrants (Statistisk Sentralbyra i Norge 2000–2009).
These immigrants mainly arrived during the period 1997–2009, that is they moved to Norway over the last 14 years, when Russia had still not fully overcome the protracted social and economic post-Soviet crisis. A few of them were in their early teens when they moved to Norway and had studied at Russian schools prior to arrival from the age of 7 to 12 years. It is noticeable, however, that the majority of parents who came brought young children with them: bringing teenagers to Norway was more problematic due to the added difficulty of coping with the changes required by a new place of living. In all likelihood the parents themselves perceived the problems and chose not to move rather than meeting Norwegian government admission restrictions. In 2009, at the time of the survey, many of the children were aged between 7 and 13.
Nevertheless, by the end of 2009, Russians accounted for no more than 3.7%, or 360 people, of the local population in Sør-Varanger. 95% of them lived in the municipal centre, Kirkenes (Statistisk Sentralbyra i Norge 2000–2009). And yet, Kirkenes occupies the second place in northern Norway when it comes to the number of former citizens from the Russian Federation (be they ethnic Russians or other nationalities). In first place comes the city of Tromsø, with 438 persons of Russian origin, and in third place, Alta, in western Finnmark, with 202 (Statistisk Sentralbyra i Norge 2000–2009).
Peculiarities of the social position of Russian children in the new country
In 2009 a research project started that was aimed at studying the welfare and education of children who had emigrated from Russia to the municipality of Sør-Varanger over the last 10–12 years. For this research, school-aged immigrants from 6 to 14 years of age were selected. Through questionnaires and interviews initial material was collected in 2009 and at the beginning of 2010 which reveals some peculiarities of the situation of child-immigrants in Kirkenes.
In Kirkenes, the children and their mothers completed the questionnaire almost simultaneously, in June 2009, and a few in January 2010. Questionnaires were given to children and parents at the secondary school and also at Russian courses, which were attended by children of 7 to 14 years of age in the evening at the Centre for Additional Training. Incidentally, these courses were organised with the support of the commune, and almost 40 persons attended. In total, there were about 10 children attending the evening class who were suitable for our survey.
The questionnaire for children consisted of 33 questions divided into seven blocks, each of which had a different focus. The questions either asked the participants to choose the most appropriate response from a list of graded responses, or to express an opinion. Conversations with the children were conducted during the autumn of 2009 after school. Each of the conversations lasted for approximately 30–40 minutes.
There were 22 participants, the overwhelming majority of whom were children who arrived from Russia with their parents between 6 and 14 years of age, in other words, children who not only had knowledge of life in Russia, but in many cases also of the Russian school system. This fact seems to be extremely valuable when analysing the answers that they gave about Norwegian schools, about their life outside school, and their understanding of the future. This group of children had had time to study for some years at a Norwegian school and to experience living in Norway. They were also at an active stage of defining their cultural-moral positions, and of making their choice of profession.
The questions were answered in a careful manner. To the following question, ‘What is the difference between Russia and Norway when it comes to school and leisure time?’, a typical reaction was ‘[Here] I spend more time with friends and in fresh air’; ‘In Russia there was almost no free time, only lessons’. On the negative side, however, ‘[In Kirkenes] there is no possibility to be engaged in dance, needlework, different kinds of sport’. At the same time, 11 persons out of 14 who answered the questionnaire said that they liked to study the culture, traditions and living conditions in Norway and had received much of new information.
To the question, ‘Is it difficult to study in a Norwegian school?’, where also emphasis was put on the difficulties in connection with using Norwegian, 10 persons answered that it is not difficult at all, while three said that it was a little difficult. Five children out of 14 said, that they, besides Norwegian, also used Russian or English as obligatory during the classes. At the same time half of the children said, that they used Russian and English everywhere at school, as soon as there is a chance to communicate with friends (that is to say during the classes or during the breaks). Thus 90% of the children use, as a means of communicating at school, not only Norwegian, but also Russian and English (basically during the classes). But during conversations at home the children mostly used Russian, and only sometimes Norwegian.
One of the questions is centred on how the children felt about living in the north of Norway, and whether they found it difficult to live there. 100% of the children answered that they felt fine about it, that they liked the north for a number of reasons, and in particular, they liked the polar night and the ‘better school’ they attended in contrast to those that they had heard about in the south of Norway. Indeed, overall, the children stated that it was ‘very good’ living here, and that they ‘love the north’.
Interestingly, however, when the question was, ‘What do you most of all wish to be engaged in the future if you will live in Norway?’, only one answer was connected with the north of Norway directly. So, one person told, that he would like to be educated as a teacher of choreography and then to teach dancing in Kirkenes. Three out of 14 children connected the future with culture and creative professions. They wished to become musicians or to work in the theatre as actors, or to write books. Only two persons connected their future with mathematics, computers, that is with mathematical and engineering works. Two other persons wished to be engaged in sports at a professional level, two more persons wished to be employed in service trades, as hairdresser, cook or veterinary surgeon. One person wished to be teacher, and another a policeman.
Parents of children-immigrants from Russia
The parents, basically the mothers of children-immigrants of school age were included in theresearch project; 15 persons altogether, a solid group judged by the number of children from Russia living in Sør-Varanger. The parents of school-aged immigrants formed a large part of the group of Russians living in Sør-Varanger, judging by the number of children involved.
The questionnaire for the parents of children who took part in the research project, consisted of 24 questions, divided into seven parts. Among the questions were demographical and other general data about the parents and about the school their children were attending, their activities outside school and their friends, the future of the children and so on.
At first glance, it seemed that the parents too, like their children, rated the education available in Sør-Varanger highly. In answer to the questions ‘Does your child like attending Norwegian school? If so, why?’, 100% of the answers were positive. In part, the parents’ answers were based on what their children had told them about their school life: ‘The child says that he likes to have gym, go for a walk into the nature, to have school friends’; ‘Teachers are respectful to children, children are not overloaded’; ‘A year at school here proved more interesting than four years at a Russian school’, and so on.
Only indirectly did it appear that parents were not over enthusiastic about Norwegian schools. There were also weaknesses compared with the Russian schools. On a question about what they would like to change in the training programme of the Kirkenes school in order to make it more effective, parents gave the following answers: ‘To add hours on mathematics, English language’; ‘To check homework every day, to give marks’; ‘To strengthen the discipline in the classroom’; ‘To make the training programme more demanding’; ‘Teachers could be more exacting’.
The parents were asked what kind of thoughts they have about their child's learning of Norwegian. Eight persons out of 15 considered that their child did not have problems with the language. The second half, however, considered that their child had such problems. Among their worries was that the child had a rather small vocabulary, s/he does not read much, that s/he preferred to speak Russian at home. The parents had the question, ‘How do you see the future of your child?’, and could choose between six different answers. As a result the following distribution of answers was received from the 15 persons taking part in the questionnaire (a few parents marked several answers):
Connected with work and connections with Russia - 2
Connected with both Russia and Norway - 8
Connected with only Norway - 2
Connected with other countries - 5
Number of people who did not answer the question - 2
It is very important to call attention to the role of mothers that came to Norway together with their child. The mothers are crucial when it comes to forming the character of the child, and they continue to influence the child's attitude to almost every thing that he or she experiences in the new country. Also the answers of children bear witness to the active role of the mother when they emphasise that they speak with their mother in Russian, that they visit relatives in Russia, have the support from their mother when they visit the ‘Russian courses’. The mother runs as a thread between the past of the child, its present and future. She helps the child to study the language, culture, history of the new country, but at the same time, gives the child the chance not to forget the native land, and to connect the child's future with Russia, something that will give the child more opportunities.
Thus, the children and their parents who have moved from northern Russia to the northern part of Norway over the last 10 years have become an integral part of Norwegian society, and this social penetration is likely to be reciprocal. This means that the migrants and the native Norwegian population will enrich and develop each other. It is a fact that in Finnmark and in Sør-Varanger, many Russian women have married Norwegian men. For a long period of time, every fourth marriage in Finnmark was between a Norwegian man and a Russian woman. No less than 60% of these women have been through higher education, something which inevitably increases the average level of education in the region (Rogova Reference Rogova2008: 12–13). This high level of education will also influence the aspirations and plans of their children in a positive manner; the aspirations that these women brought with them to the new country are reflected in the questionnaire. But there is also reason to believe that it will stimulate an interest in education amongst the native Norwegian population in a region where people have traditionally had a negative attitude towards learning, and where the average level of education is amongst the lowest in Norway. Thus there is reason to believe that the interaction between the Russian immigrants and their new society will not only change the immigrants, but also, to a certain extent, the host country.
The questionnaires concerning Russian children in Sør-Varanger indicate that having lived in northern Norway for some years, children have a tendency to become Norwegians much faster and more effectively, than they were expected to do according the theories of assimilation. According to Gordon this would take 2–3 generations after the arrival in the new country (Gordon Reference Gordon1964). Our research found that assimilation has already gone a long way. For example, talking amongst themselves and at home, children of Russian origin, more often than not, use the Norwegian language, instead of Russian. In conversations between children, the theme of Russia is almost totally absent, with the exception of questions concerning interactions across the border. In their future plans, the children visualise themselves living their lives in Norway, rather than in Russia, despite what their mothers might wish. The greater part of the Russian children in question know more about the cities, history, culture, etc. in countries other than their native land, Russia. As a result, the children-immigrants and their mothers are actively being assimilated to such an extent, that it will soon be difficult to distinguish them in social-psychological terms and culture from the population of the society which have received them (Morawska and Joppke 1994; Alba and Nee Reference Alba and Nee2003). Interestingly none of the parents or children mentioned religion during the interviews.
Conclusion
A peculiar supplement to the theory of hybridity is the theory of different types of integration (Bell and others Reference Bell, Pennington and Bara2009; Kumar Reference Kumar2005). It holds that cultural integration nowadays may take place much faster than other forms of integration of migrants. And children adapt faster than their parents, who are assimilated much more slowly. The children become western-oriented and adhere to general values, like McDonald's food, TV serials etc. They listen to similar music, are more flexible in learning and spend much time together with children of the same age after school, and so on. In Norway, as well as in Russia, in the beginning of the 21st century these attributes of globalised culture are present, and makes it easier for children to adapt themselves to a new country, across borders and independent of geographical situation. Far more quickly than earlier they can achieve parity with the native population in terms of educational attainment or employment opportunities (Holton Reference Holton1998).
Is it a good thing or a bad thing that children from Russia are, seemingly, prepared to become Norwegian so quickly? On the one hand, on becoming adults it will be easier for them to study at a Norwegian university and to be integrated into the Norwegian labour market. On the other hand, one could say that by being so speedily transformed into Norwegians, they will become ‘victims’ or objects of accelerated assimilation. If these youngsters manage to keep a fraction of their Russian identity, they would be able to transfer some of their identity to the next generation, part of their language, a number of traditions, knowledge of and interest in Russia in general. Thereby, they will be able, not only through active links between Norway and future immigrants from Russia, but also to increase the understanding of Russia and Russian culture in Norway (Kuortti and Nyman Reference Kuortti and Nyman2007).
