Open Access Article Intercultural Communication

Witnesses of Wealth.Development Workers, Intercultural Communication and Norwegian National Identity

Kjetil Fretheim (1)
1. Centre for Intercultural Communication, Stavanger, Norway
https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v9i3.487

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Issue
Vol. 9 No. 3 (2009)
Submitted
2007 December 24
Published
2009 September 30
Keywords:
    Intercultural communication, national identity, development aid, development workers
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Abstract

In this article the broader topic of communication and identity is addressed through a discussion of intercultural involvement and national identity in the case of Norway. The main research question is how Norwegian expatriate development workers discursively sustain, challenge and (re)construct Norwegian national identity. Discussing this I draw on material from a recent study where I interviewed twenty-three development workers (). In the analysis I identify three main types of contributions development workers make to the construction of a Norwegian national identity and label them according to three priestly roles: the prophet who criticises the powerful, the counsellor who comforts and strengthens his flock, or the priest as a unifying symbol of the group.

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Authors

Kjetil Fretheim
kjetil.fretheim@sik.no (Primary Contact)
Author Biography

Kjetil Fretheim

Kjetil Fretheim (b. 1970) is a senior researcher at Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK), Misjonsveien 34, 4024 Stavanger, Norway. Fretheim holds a PhD from MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo.

Fretheim, K. (2009). Witnesses of Wealth.Development Workers, Intercultural Communication and Norwegian National Identity. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 9(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v9i3.487
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How to Cite

Fretheim, K. (2009). Witnesses of Wealth.Development Workers, Intercultural Communication and Norwegian National Identity. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 9(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v9i3.487

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