This article discusses the rural-to-urban migration of young people in Norway from a class perspective: To what extent do youth in different social classes have distinct migration patterns? Based on data from the decennial Norwegian Censuses (1960–90) and the Norwegian Migration Register (the Generation Database), the analysis traces the migration pattern of all Norwegians born in 1965 who grew up in a rural part of the country. The theoretical point of departure is a hypothesis that young people from better-off rural families are the most likely to leave the countryside in favour of a more urban life, particularly to take-up educational opportunities. This proposition is substantiated by the empirical analysis in the article, and is explained by the tendency of inter-generational reproduction of social class status and lifestyles, which encourages members of rural upper classes to migrate to urban areas, to a greater extent than among young people in the lower social classes.
Bell, Michael M.
(1992) ‘
The Fruit of Difference: The Rural-Urban Continuum as a System of Identity
’, Rural Sociology57(1):
65–82
.
3.
Berger, Peter L.
and
Luckman, Thomas
(1967) The Social Construction of Reality.
London: Penguin
.
4.
Bourdieu, Pierre
(1984) Distinction. A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
London: Routledge
.
5.
Bourdieu, Pierre
(1988) Homo Academicus.
London: Polity Press
.
6.
Boyle, Paul
,
Halfacree, Keith
and
Robinson, Vaughan
(1998) Exploring Contemporary Migration.
Harlow: Longman
.
7.
Brox, Ottar
(1984) Nord-Norge. Fra allmenning til koloni (North-Norway: From Common Land to Colony).
Oslo: Universitetsforlaget
.
8.
Bærenholdt, Jørgen Ole
(1998) ‘Locals versus Mobiles – Explaining Different Dynamics in North Atlantic Localities’, in
Nils Aarsæther
and
Ole Jørgen Bærenholdt
(eds) Coping Strategies in the North – Local Practices in the Context of Global Restructuring, pp. 201–21.
Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers
.
9.
Carling, Jørgen
(1999) Sentraliseringstendenser i innenlandsk flytting mellom økonomiske regioner. Utviklingen 1977–1998 og forutsetninger om framskrivingsperioden 1999–2005 (Centralization Tendencies in Domestic Migration Between Economic Regions. Trend 1977– 1998 and Assumptions for the Projection Period 1999–2005).
Oslo: Statistics Norway
.
10.
Cloke, Paul
(1997) ‘
Country Backwater to Virtual Village? Rural Studies and “The Cultural Turn”
’, Journal of Rural Studies13(4):
367–75
.
11.
Cloke, Paul J.
and
Thrift, Nigel
(1990) ‘Class and Change in Rural Britain‘, in
Terry Marsden
,
Philip Lowe
and
Sarah Whatmore
(eds) Rural Restructuring. Global Processes and their Responses, pp. 165–81.
London: David Fulton Publishers
.
12.
Coté, Guy L.
(1997) ‘
Socio-economic Attainment, Regional Disparities, and Internal Migration
’, European Sociological Review13(1):
55–77
.
13.
Countryside Commission (2004) Livkraftige distrikter og regioner (Vigorous Districts and Regions). Norwegian Official Report no. 19.
Oslo: Kommunal- og regionaldepartementet
.
14.
Dax, Thomas
and
Machold, Ingrid
(eds) (2002) Voices of Rural Youth. A Break with Traditional Patterns?Wien: Bundesanstalt für Bergbaunernfragen
.
15.
Eidheim, Frøydis
(1993) Hva har skjedd i Brumunddal? (What Has Happened in Brumunddal?). Report 20/1993.
Oslo: Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research
.
16.
Fielding, Antony J.
(1992) ‘
Migration and Social Mobility: South East England as an Escalator Region
’, Regional Studies26(1):
1–15
.
17.
Fosso, Eli
(2004) ‘Unges flytting – et spørsmål om identitet og om myter om marginale og sentrale steder’ (Migration of Youth – a Question of Identity and of Myths about Marginal and Central Places), in
Nina G. Berg
,
Britt Dale
,
Hans Kjetil
and
Anders Løfgren
(eds) Mennesker, steder og regionale endringer(People, Places, and Regional Changes), pp. 119–35.
Trondheim: Tapir
.
18.
Giddens, Anthony
(1984) The Constitution of Society.
Cambridge: Polity Press
.
19.
Giddens, Anthony
(1994) Intimitetens forandring (The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism).
Copenhagen: Hans Ritzels forlag
.
20.
Grimsrud, Gro Marit
(2000) Kvinner på flyttefot (Women on the Move). ØF-report 13/2000.
Lillehammer: Østlandsforskning
.
21.
Halfacree, Keith
(2002) ‘
Rural Space, Rural Place and the Practice of Migration
’, paper presented at the Place-Network meeting: Trondheim, September.
22.
Halfacree, Keith H.
,
Flowerdew, Robin
and
Johnson, James H.
(1992) ‘
The Characteristics of British Migrants in the 1990s: Evidence from a New Survey
’, The Geographical Journal158(2):
157–69
.
23.
Hanell, Tomas
,
Aalbu, Hallgeir
and
Neubauer, Jörg
(2002) Regional Development in the Nordic Countries 2002. Nordregio Report 2002:2.
Stockholm: Nordregio
.
24.
Heggen, Kåre
(2002) ‘
Utkantjentene sin stille revolusjon
’ (The Silent Revolution of the Girls on the Outskirts), Tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning2(2):
3–20
.
25.
Heggen, Kåre
(2003) ‘Norge’, in
Helena Helve
(ed.) Ung i utkant. Aktuell forskning om glesbygdungdomar i Norden (Young in Outskirts. Relevant Research on Rural Youth in the North), pp. 154–86.
Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers
.
26.
Heggen, Kåre
and
Matland Olsen, Grethe
(1995) Ungdom. Utdanningseksplosjonen – nye karrierar (Youth. Education Explosion – New Careers). Forskningsrapport 3/1995.
Volda: Møreforskning
.
27.
Heggen, Kåre
,
Myklebust, Jon Olav
and
Øia, Tormod
(2001). ‘Innleiing: Ungdom, stad og meining’ (Introduction: Youth, Place and Meaning), in
Kåre Heggen
,
Jon Olav Myklebust
and
Tormod Øia
(eds) Ungdom: I spenninga mellom det lokale og det globale (Youth: Between the Local and the Global), pp. 9–17.
Oslo: Det norske samlaget
.
28.
Helve, Helena
(ed.) (2000) Rural Young People in Changing Europe.
Helsinki: The Finnish Youth Research Society
.
29.
Helve, Helena
(ed.) (2003) Ung i utkant. Aktuell forskning om glesbygdungdomar i Norden (Young on the Outskirts. Current Research on Youth in Sparsely Populated Areas in the Nordic Countries).
Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers
.
30.
Jenkins, Richard
(2002) Pierre Bourdieu.
London: Routledge
.
31.
Jentsch, Birgit
and
Shucksmith, Mark
(eds) (2004a) Young People in Rural Areas of Europe.
Aldershot: Ashgate
.
32.
Jentsch, Birgit
and
Shucksmith, Mark
(2004b) ‘Introduction’, in
Birigit Jentsch
and
Mark Shucksmith
(eds) Young People in Rural Areas of Europe.
Aldershot: Ashgate
.
33.
Jørgensen, Gunnar
(1994) To ungdomskulturer. Om vedlikehold av sosiale og kulturelle ulikheter i Bygdeby (Two Youth Cultures. On the Maintenance of Social and Cultural Disparities in ‘Bygdeby’).
Sogndal: Western Norway Research Institute
.
34.
Long, J. Scott
(1997) Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication
.
35.
Long, J. Scott
and
Cheng, Simon
(2004) ‘Regression Models for Categorical Outcomes’, in
Melissa Hardy
and
Alan Bryman
(eds) Handbook of Data Analysis, pp. 259–84.
London: Sage
.
36.
Long, J. Scott
and
Freese, Jeremy
(2003) Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata.
College Station, Texas: Stata Press
.
37.
Løseth, Arnljot
(1991) ‘Nordvestlandet – egalitært eller stratifisert?’ (North-West Norway – Egalitarian or Stratified?), in
Liv Marthinsen
and
Harald Winge
(eds) Bygdesamfunnet – en sammensatt helhet? (The Farming Community – a Complex Totality?), pp. 149–66.
Oslo: Norsk lokalhistorisk institutt
.
38.
Murdoch, Jonathan
and
Pratt, Andy C.
(1993) ‘
Rural Studies: Modernism, Postmodernism and the “Post-rural”
’, Journal of Rural Studies9(4):
411–27
.
39.
Nicholson, Beryl
(1975) ‘
Return Migration to a Marginal Rural Area – an Example from North Norway
’, Sociologia Ruralis15(4):
227–44
.
40.
Nordic Council of Ministers (2002) Nöjda så in i Norden? – motiv och konsekvenser för dem som flyttat och stannat i de nordiska länderna (Satisfied, then, in the Nordic countries? – Motive and Consequences for those who Moved and Who Stayed in the Nordic Countries). Nord 2002:6.
Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers
.
41.
Orderud, Geir Inge
(1998) Flytting – mønstre og årsaker. En kunnskapsoversikt (Migration – Patterns and Causes. An Overview of Knowledge).
Oslo: NIBR
.
42.
Paulgaard, Gry
(2002) ‘
Local Identities in a “Global World”
’, Young10(3–4):
95–106
.
43.
Rustin, Michael
(1995) ‘
The Future of Post-socialism
’, Radical Philosophy74 (Nov–Dec):
17–27
.
44.
Rye, Johan Fredrik
(2006a) ‘
Lokal kapital og arvelig bofasthet. Rurale ungdommers bostedspreferanser
’ (Local Capital and Inherited Immobility. Residential Preferences of Rural Youth), Tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning6(1):
3–24
.
45.
Rye, Johan Fredrik
(2006b) ‘
Leaving the Countryside. An Analysis of Rural-to-urban Migration and Long-term Capital Accumulation
’, Acta Sociologica49(1):
47–65
.
46.
Rye, Johan Fredrik
(2006c) ‘
Rural Youths' Images of the Rural
’, Journal of Rural Studies22:
409–21
.
47.
Rye, Johan Fredrik
and
Almås, Reidar
(2004) ‘Social Stratification and Changing Division of Labour in Rural Norway’. Paper 2/04.
Trondheim: Centre for Rural Research
.
48.
Shrestha, Nanda R.
(1988) ‘
A Structural Perspective on Labour Migration in Underdeveloped Countries
’, Progress of Human Geography12(2):
197–207
.
49.
Skogen, Ketil
(1998) ‘
A Touch of Class – the Persistence of Class Cultures among Norwegian Youth
’, Young6(2):
15–37
.
50.
Skogen, Ketil
(1999) Cultures and Natures. Cultural Patterns, Environmental Orientations and Outdoor Recreation Practices among Norwegian Youth. Report 16/99.
Oslo: Norwegian Social Research
.
Statistics Norway (1989) Standard Classification of Education.
Oslo: Statistics Norway
.
53.
Statistics Norway (1994) Standard for kommuneklassifisering (Standard for Municipal Classification).
Oslo: Statistics Norway
.
54.
Stockdale, Aileen
(2004) ‘
Rural Out-Migration: Community Consequences and Individual Experiences
’, Sociologia Ruralis44(2):
167–94
.
55.
Vestel, Viggo
(1996) Rena leir – oppvekstmiljøet i Åmot (Rena Camp – the Environment for Children and Adolescents in Åmot). Report 2/1996.
Oslo: Ungforsk
.
56.
Villa, Mariann
(1999) ‘
Bygda – sosial konstruksjon av “trygt” og “godt”
’ (The Countryside – Social Construction of ‘Secure‘ and ‘Good‘), Sosiologi i dag29(4):
31–52
.
57.
Villa, Mariann
(2000) ‘Livsfasebygda’ (The Life Phase Countryside), in
Marit Husmo
and
Jahn Petter Johnsen
(eds) Fra bygd og fjord til kafébord? (From Rural Districts and Fjords to Café Tables?), pp. 175–85.
Trondheim: Tapir
.
58.
Waara, Peter
(1993) ‘
Byfräsere och lantlollor. I glappet mellan obygd och modernitet
’ (In the Gap between Wilderness and Modernity). Upväxtvillkor93(4):
6–17
.
59.
Waara, Peter
(1996) Ungdom i Gränsland (Youth in the Borderland).
Umeå: Boréa
.
60.
Waara, Peter
(2002) ‘
At the End of the World – Young People in the Barents area
’, Young10(3–4):
2–11
.
61.
White Paper (1996/97) Om distrikts- og regionalpolitikken (On District and Regional policy).
62.
White Paper (1999/2000) Om norsk landbruk og matproduksjon (On Norwegian Agriculture and Food Production).
63.
Wiborg, Agnete
(1996) ‘Det moderne bygdesamfunnet: Naboskap uten fellesskap?’ (The Modern Rural Community: Neighbourhood without Fellowship?), in
Kristian Aasbrenn
(ed.) Opp og stå, gamle Norge (Stand up, Old Norway), pp. 19–31.
Oslo: Landbruksforlaget
.
64.
Wiborg, Agnete
(2001) ‘
Education, Mobility and Ambivalence. Rural Students in Higher Education
’, Young9(1):
23–40
.
65.
Wiborg, Agnete
(2003) En ambivalent reise i et flertydig landskap. Unge fra distriktene i høyere utdannelse (An Ambivalent Journey in an Ambiguous Landscape. Young People from Rural Districts in Higher Education).
Tromsø: University of Tromsø
.
