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SAMF-Fagkomiteen for samfunnsvitenskap

GLOBAL CARE WORKERS IN THE NORWEGIAN WELFARE STATE: CARE CHAINS, INTERSECTIONALITY AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

Awarded: NOK 5.1 mill.

Over the last decade there has been an increase in the number of nurses and au pairs recruited to Norway, though the recruitment of nurses has recently decreased while the recruitment of au pairs has increased. This import of care workers coincides with a n international trend in care work migration, often referred to as the global care chain. This project intends to study migrant care workers in Norway, both in order to gain an understanding of their situation, and in order to throw light on the impact th eir presence may have on care giving institutions in the Norwegian welfare state. Attention is drawn to the careers of two groups of migrant care workers in Norway, nurses and au pairs, to the structures that have formed their careers, and to the ways in which these two groups may be interrelated. Issues to be addressed involve the connections between structural conditions on the global, national and local levels on the one hand and individual life courses on the other. We will make use of, and review cri tically, literature on gendered work migration and the global care chain, intersectionality, and social capital. Qualitative methods will be applied, mainly based on semi-structured interviews with strategic selections of nurses, au pairs and au pair fami lies. This will provide data that will be suitable for comparison both within the project and cross-nationally to the Canadian project with which this project intends to collaborate. Results will be disseminated through a report, through articles in natio nal and international journals with referees, in a more popular form in journals and newspapers, and through participation in the public debate.

Funding scheme:

SAMF-Fagkomiteen for samfunnsvitenskap