Marginality and banality in the segregated city: Reflections on the ‘riots’ in Oslo

Abstract

The Israeli invasion of Gaza in late December 2008 triggered demonstrations—or, as several commentators termed them, riots—in Oslo’s city centre, as it did in other European cities. Many young people from the Oslo’s ‘immigrant-dense’ suburbs participated in these protests. The demonstrations in December 2008 were followed by unusually violent protests on 8 and 10 January 2009. Oslo’s city centre was turned into a battlefield, with vandalised shops and ‘warlike’ clashes between demonstrators and police. Media coverage emphasised that most of the ‘rioters’ were young males from immigrant backgrounds. Commentators speculated that the demonstrations offered these males an opportunity to vent their frustrations towards both Israel and mainstream Norwegian society. Explanations of the urban unrest were similar to those put forth in the aftermath of unrest in other European cities. It was suggested that Norwegian youth were taking the opportunity to release their pent-up rage as marginalised residents of stigmatised neighbourhoods. This paper does not attempt to identify any universal, deeper-lying causes of urban unrest. However, based on prolonged fieldwork in Oslo prior to, during and following the demonstrations, it is argued that contextual knowledge of ordinary life can be helpful when trying to understand such extraordinary events.