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Iceland has increasingly been tangled in a dense network of various mobilities, leading to the growing transnational character of Icelandic society. This means that Iceland is involved in and affected by different forms of exchange and flows of ideas, capital, objects and people: emigration, immigration; involving foreign workers, refugees, human trafficking, business trips, educational and cultural transfer, and tourism. This edited volume brings together researchers focusing on Icelandic society from the per- spective of mobility and transnational connections. The chapters are based on inter- disciplinary research bringing in different ways highlighting the complex implications of mobilities and transnationalism for the Icelandic state, institutions, society and culture., Rannís grant no. 163350-051

The influx of refugees and immigrants into Iceland continues to affect the society socially, culturally, and politically. Like many other European countries, Iceland has become home to many refugees and immigrants, including young adults. This influx has affected the education system, and many schools have developed different models to serve the diverse needs of the increasing number of immigrant children entering the system. In spite of the obstacles – which include cultural and linguistic differences, struggles with different school systems and academic programs, educational level, financial standing or country of origin, little education, and limited family income – many refugee and immigrant students are enthusiastic about learning, and are able to succeed both academically and socially in their new learning spaces. Research has shown that immigrant students drop out of school as a result of different factors, such as not valuing school and having poor relationships with teachers and peers (Makarova & Herzog, 2013) and that immigrant teens in some ethnic groups suffer a higher dropout rate than the national average (Morse, 2005). According to a study conducted by Grétarsdóttir (2007) on educational progress among youth whose heritage language is not Icelandic, more than half of the respondents either never attended upper secondary education – i.e., the three to four years after compulsory school, typically about ages 16-19 – or dropped out. Understanding these students’ academic and social engagement and success may be critical for addressing the high dropout rates among immigrant students. Thus, the purpose of this study is to answer the question: What academic, personal, and social experiences account for the success of young immigrants and refugees while in upper secondary schools in Iceland? This study aimed to understand young immigrants’ and refugee students’ experiences of academic and social success in upper secondary schools in Iceland. In this study, 27 academically and socially successful students participated in one-hour semi-structured interviews. In the interviews, young immigrant and refugee students were asked about their attitudes toward their culture of origin and Icelandic culture and society, their experience of belonging to different groups, their aspirations and future goals in those settings, different learning environments and practise, their expectation of the schools and curriculum, and their motivations and obstacles including their language backgrounds. The study applies different theories, including culturally responsive pedagogy and multicultural education, that incline toward providing all students, regardless of their background, culture, language, race and ethnicities with the knowledge, tools and skills necessary to function harmoniously both in their community and globally. These theories facilitate the academic and social success of young immigrant and refugee students and create equity in the education system. The theoretical background chosen for this study aims to support the research questions and capture the depth of the data. Theories of inclusion and safe zones are discussed as ways to value diversity among these groups of students regardless of their background, language, ethnicity and race, and they address equitable opportunities for these students and to bring about equal, just and democratic society (Banks & Banks, 2013; Gay, 2018; Grant & Sleeter, 2013; Nieto, 2010; Pratt, 1991, 2007). Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2013) is used to analyze the data. This method is useful when one is trying to find commonalities in meaning among the participants’ responses. Knowledge about the reasons for the academic and social success of these students is important for policymakers, teachers, and governmental organisations, both in terms of societal stability and for the sake of individual refugee and immigrant youths. Bringing young immigrants’ and refugees’ academic and social success to light may also be significant in counteracting xenophobia. The findings reveal that various internal and external factors determine academic and social success of the refugee and immigrant students, including their desire, passion, and strength, as well as their interest in education and their future goals. They were intrinsically motivated, exerted effort, and refused to give up despite the various challenges they faced. Immigrant and refugee students’ journeys of success were also shaped by a set of visible factors both structural (inside their schools) and social (outside their schools, at home and in their communities).

Publisher's version, This article examines LGBQ migrants’ experiences of living in Iceland, with a focus on LGBQ migrants from the Global South. LGBQ migrants may belong to various communities, for example, to their ethnic community, the queer community and to the wider Icelandic society, all of which affect their experiences. Various societal changes have taken place in Iceland in recent decades regarding LGBQ people, and at the same time, the number of international migrants who have taken up residence in Iceland has vastly increased. This article applies theories of belonging to LGBQ migrants’ subject-positions in society, using theories of racialization to explore the ways in which migrants’ experience exclusion and xenophobia. It draws on an intersectional approach to analyze how issues relating to people’s gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, and class overlap and shape their experiences, throughout the migration process and in their daily life. The findings show that LGBQ migrants employ a bifocal world view, while also demonstrating the ways in which they perceive racialization and a sense of (un)belonging in the Icelandic context. Furthermore, this study shows that migration can provide an opportunity for new. paths and practices regarding participants’ sexual orientation and identity construction., Funded by the Icelandic Research Fund-RANNIS (Grant of Excellence nr: 163362)

Migration is a gendered process that shapes the lives of men and women differently, because they generally occupy dissimilar positions within the household, the labour market and society. This article examines gender and migration within a Nordic context, between two countries that are often presented as gender equal in cross-national comparisons. The focus is on how the gendered division of labour is manifested in the experiences of Icelanders who migrated to Norway in the wake of the Icelandic financial crisis of October 2008. The results are based on interviews with people who migrated to Norway both with and without their families. In our analysis, we show how the gender-segregated labour market and gender norms lead to different positions and opportunities for men and women at times of economic crisis and migration. For study participants who migrated with their families, the relocation was often organized around the labour-market position and opportunities of men. Those who migrated without their families emphasized their roles as providers for their families. However, only the women described how their absence was perceived as a failure to fulfil childcare responsibilities. The findings highlight the resilience of the notions of men as providers and women as primary parents within “the gender-equal Nordic region”, and indicate how these roles may facilitate or discourage the migration of men and women., The research received doctoral grants from the University of Iceland Research Fund and the Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannís) (grant number 174347-051), and a grant from the Memorial Fund of Eðvarð Sigurðsson. The study is part of the research project Icelandic Identity in Crisis, funded by the Icelandic Centre for Research (grant number 130426-051).

Racialization does not always take place through discourses of blackness as emphasized in American research, or exclusively in relation to immigration, as emphasized in the European context. As an affective process, racialization is entangled with particular views of nation-states and a sense of belonging in a wider community of nations where humanitarianism can play a large role. By looking at international development in Iceland, the paper emphasizes that racialization takes place in different spheres of society where Icelandic racial subjectivities are shaped by global ideas of humanitarianism and international development that intersect with older Icelandic anxieties of belonging with sovereign northern European nations. The article emphasizes whiteness as being embedded in local Icelandic conversions of nationhood and belonging, entangled in global international development discourses that involve mobilizations of the idea of ‘humanity’., University of Iceland Research Fund and The Icelandic Research Fund (RANNIS), project number 134226-052, Post print