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On 21st October 2021, PhD candidate ÌýSolveig Moldrheim will defend her thesis at the University of Bergen with the titleÌýÌý"The power of prejudice".

Surveys show that students with a minority background are bullied more than others, and that school is one of the main arenas for perceived racism.ÌýThis is paradoxical in view of the school's societal mandate on gender equality and equality.ÌýIn order to gain more knowledge about prejudice in schools, the Research Council of Norway awarded eight research scholarships in 2017.ÌýThis dissertation is the result of one of these scholarships.ÌýThrough interviews with 33 young people, Moldrheim explores prejudice in social interaction.ÌýThe research project uses history didactic perspectives, and finds that prejudices are stories that are used, more than that they are something each of us has.

The findings show that when prejudice is used, its use depends on known narratives.ÌýSome of these we find as basic narratives in textbooks where images of misery and the enemy are reproduced.ÌýPrejudices are also brought in as interpretations in everyday life, and do not have to be expressed in order to work.ÌýAn experience of exclusion can e.g.Ìýinterpreted into the framework of the outside world meeting you with prejudice.ÌýPrejudice is often wrapped up as humor related to well-known stories.ÌýKnowledge of these is therefore essential for understanding humor.ÌýHumor is a strong social norm that gives high social status and can therefore also be used as resistance to prejudice.

Moldrheim also analyzes prejudice through group-based insults such as the n-word and 'Jew'.ÌýThe words often change meaning content depending on who uses them.ÌýThe young people thus communicate not only by virtue of what they say or what they do, but also through who they are and who others perceive that they are.ÌýSkin color and religion are examples of markers that lay the groundwork for which stories are evoked, and thus to a large extent form the basis for rules in social practice.

A clear finding is that prejudices are tenacious structures that limit and suppress.ÌýDeveloping a reflective practice against prejudice is about seeing the power in the structures and at the same time acknowledging the power that exists in liberating moments.

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About the Candidate

Solveig Moldrheim (b. 1973) is a lecturer with a history degree from the University of Bergen (1999).ÌýThe doctoral thesis has been carried out at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural ´óÏó´«Ã½ and Religion (AHKR), under the project "School as an arena of opportunity", led by Professor Marie von der Lippe.ÌýThe main supervisor has been Professor Svein Ivar Angell, with Professor Sissel Undheim as co-supervisor.ÌýMoldrheim is employed as a teaching manager in the Rafto Foundation.

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Trial lecture: Ìý21.10.2021 – 17.00-18.00

Defense: 22.10.2021 – 08.30–12.00

Jusbygget, Auditorium 3, UiB

We all wish Solveig good luck!

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