Research Interests
- I am the keeper of the museum's ethnographic collection from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. My research has focused on nationalism, ethnic relations, and political violence in Sri Lanka, and on the aspirations of the Tamil diaspora.
Academic background
Education
- 1996: PhD., Department and Museum of Anthropology, University of Oslo.
- 1986: Magister artium, Department and Museum of Anthropology, University of Oslo.
Research (externally financed projects)
- 2010 – 2012: Creativity and Innovation in a World of Movement, HERA (Principle Investigator)
- 2004 – 2007: Ungdom i flyktningfamilier, Helse & Rehabilitering
- 2002 – 2005: Nettverk og tilpasning – transnasjonale familier i Norge, Norwegian Research Council.
- 1997 – 2001: Resource conflicts, migration and social change in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, Norwegian Research Council
Career background
- 2005- : Professor, Museum of Cultural History, Univesrsity of Oslo.
- 2000 – 2005: Head of Research, NOVA (Norwegian Social Research)
- 1997 – 1999: Senior Researcher, SUM (Centre for Development and Environment)
Appointments
- 2011 – 2014: Head of Department of Ethnography, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
Tags:
Social anthropology,
Ethnography,
South Asia,
Sri Lanka,
Diaspora,
Ethnicity,
Materiality and mediation,
Migration,
Nationalism,
Rituals and Cosmology
Publications
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2025).
Conspiracies, Ideology and Myth: The Sri Lankan Aragalaya as a Generic Moment.
Political Theology.
ISSN 1462-317X.
doi:
10.1080/1462317x.2025.2591984.
Full text in Research Archive
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The focus of this paper is conspiracy theories related to Aragalaya, the large public protest taking place in Sri Lanka in 2022, forcing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down. The many theories on who was really behind the demonstrations made Aragalaya into a “generic moment,” an event bringing to public consciousness social and political tensions underlying the shaping of social life in Sri Lanka. As such Aragalaya manifested a transformative potential, achieving its effect through the meaning and significance that people attached to it. Even so, continuities between these theories and earlier forms of ideology production create a risk that unless structural changes are initiated, new-won insights will be absorbed by established power-relations.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2024).
Martyrs, Traitors, and the Eelam-Tamil Nation.
Brown Journal of World Affairs.
ISSN 1080-0786.
XXXI(1).
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2021).
Militarization and impunity in Sri Lanka.
In Widmalm, Sten (Eds.),
Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in South Asia.
Routledge.
ISSN 9781003042211.
p. 320–332.
Full text in Research Archive
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Prusac-Lindhagen, Marina; Fuglerud, Øivind & Larsen, Kjersti
(2020).
Introduction.
In Fuglerud, Øivind; Prusac-Lindhagen, Marina & Larsen, Kjersti (Ed.),
Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century. Damanatio Memoriae.
Routledge.
ISSN 9780367549565.
p. 1–20.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2020).
Landscape of Repressed Memories: Triumphalism and Counter-Historical Narratives in Sri Lanka's Former War Zone.
In Fuglerud, Øivind; Prusac-Lindhagen, Marina & Larsen, Kjersti (Ed.),
Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century. Damanatio Memoriae.
Routledge.
ISSN 9780367549565.
p. 230–245.
doi:
10.4324/9781003091332.
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The chapter explores memorialization and particular readings of history in Sri Lanka after the ending of the civil war in 2009. The victor of the war, the Sri Lankan government, has systematically destroyed not only sites and monuments telling the tale of its opponent’s historical struggle to liberate the Tamil parts of the island but has also banned memorabilia and practices through which the families and communities of the liberation fighters remember the dead. This destruction is part of a larger effort on the part of the government to enforce a particular reading of the historical significance of the apocalyptic events of 2009, a reading in line with the general self-understanding of the Sinhala nation as being continuously under threat from outside forces. On the Tamil side, politicians have in the post-war period tried to come to terms with the brutal legacy of the liberation movement through the forging of a new narrative. The author argues that the memories of what has been broken and unmade serve as building blocks in constructing new and diverse counter-hegemonic historical narratives.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2018).
Migration from Eelam (Sri Lanka): Terrorists, Model Citizens, and the People Left Behind.
In Simonsen, Jan Ketil; Larsen, Kjersti & Engebrigtsen, Ada I. (Ed.),
Movement and Connectivity: Configurations of Belonging.
Peter Lang Publishing Group.
ISSN 9781787075504.
p. 17–44.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2016).
Positioned Creativity: Museums, Politics and Indigenous Art in British Columbia and Norway,
Creativity in Transition: Politics and Aesthetics of Cultural Production Across the Globe.
Berghahn Books.
ISSN 9781785331817.
p. 158–184.
doi:
10.2307/j.ctvr695js.11.
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In an era of intensifying globalization and transnational connectivity, the dynamics of cultural production and the very notion of creativity is in transition. Exploring creative practices in various settings, the book does not only call attention to the spread of modernist discourses of creativity, from the colonial era to the current obsession with ‘innovation’ in neo-liberal capitalist cultural politics, but also to the less visible practices of copying, recycling and reproduction that occur as part and parcel of creative improvisation.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2011).
Aesthetics of Martyrdom: The Celebration of Violent Death among the Liberation Tigers of Tamil eelam.
In Weiss, Nerina & Six-Hohenbalken, Maria (Ed.),
Violence Expressed. An Anthropological Approach.
Ashgate.
ISSN 9780754678847.
p. 71–88.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2009).
Fractured sovereignty : the LTTE's state-building in an interconnected world.
In Brun, Cathrine & Jazeel, Tariq (Ed.),
Spatialising Politics: culture and geography in postcolonial Sri Lanka.
Sage Publications.
ISSN 9788178299297.
p. 194–215.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2007).
Innledning.
In Eriksen, Thomas Hylland & Fuglerud, Øivind (Ed.),
Grenser for kultur? Perspektiver fra norsk minoritetsforskning.
Pax Forlag.
ISSN 9788253030555.
p. 7–23.
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Fuglerud, Øivind & Engebrigtsen, Ada
(2007).
Ekteskap, slektskap og vennskap. Nettverksanalyse som inntakt til kulturelle prosesser.
In Eriksen, Thomas Hylland & Fuglerud, Øivind (Ed.),
Grenser for kultur? Perspektiver fra norsk minoritetsforskning.
Pax Forlag.
ISSN 9788253030555.
p. 209–226.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2006).
Staten og flyktningene - eller ""trademark Norway"" og spørsmålet om utsidens innside.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift.
ISSN 0802-7285.
17(3/4),
p. 225–232.
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Fuglerud, Øivind & Engebrigtsen, Ada Ingrid
(2006).
Culture, networks and social capital: Tamil and Somali immigrants in Norway.
Ethnic and Racial Studies.
ISSN 0141-9870.
29(6),
p. 1118–1134.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2005).
Inside Out: The Reorganisation of National Identity in Norway.
In Hansen, Thomas Blom & Stepputat, Finn (Ed.),
Sovereign Bodies. Citizens, Migrants, and States in the Postcolonial World.
Princeton University Press.
ISSN 9780691121185.
p. 291–311.
Full text in Research Archive
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Engebrigtsen, Ada Ingrid; Bakken, Anders & Fuglerud, Øivind
(2004).
Somalisk og tamilsk ungdom.
In Fuglerud, Øivind (Eds.),
Andre bilder av 'de andre'. Transnasjonale liv i Norge.
Pax Forlag.
ISSN 9788253026893.
p. 142–175.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2003).
Local communities and State ambitions in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province.
In Meyer, Marcus; Rajasingham, Darini & Thangaraja, Yuvi (Ed.),
Building Local Capacities for Peace: Rethinking Conflict and Development in Sri Lanka.
New Delhi, Macmillan India.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2003).
Kontroll og korrupsjon: Et bidrag til historien om den norske innvandringskontrollen.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift.
ISSN 0802-7285.
p. 137–147.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2002).
The housewife and the soldier. Tamil construction of womanhood in the age of migration.
Kvinder, Køn og Forskning.
ISSN 0907-6182.
p. 20–30.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2001).
'Time and Space in the Tamil diaspora'.
Nations and Nationalism.
ISSN 1354-5078.
7(2),
p. 195–213.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2000).
Tenke globalt, handle lokalt. Om etnisk implosjon på Sri Lanka.
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift.
ISSN 0802-7285.
3.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(1997).
Ambivalent Incorporation: Norwegian Policy towards Tamil Asylum-seekers from Sri Lanka.
Journal of Refugee Studies.
ISSN 0951-6328.
Vol. 10(No. 4).
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(1997).
Identitet blant eksiltamiler,
Sri Lanka: Nasjonalisme, identitet og migrasjon.
Aschehoug & Co.
ISSN 9788251835138.
p. 97–114.
Full text in Research Archive
Show summary
Etter uavhengigheten i 1948 utviklet Sri Lanka seg til en
sosialdemokratisk velferdsstat og utviklingsmodell for andre land i den
tredje verden. Men i de siste 13 årene jar landet vært preget av en
voldelig konflikt mellom den singalesisk-dominerte staten og militante
tamilske separatister. Denne boken presenterer et utvalg av
samfunnsvitenskapelige analyser av singalesisk og tamilsk
etnonasjonalisme, og hvordan den etniske konflikten har påvirket
tamilsk migrasjon til Norge. Forfatterne ønsker å skape økt innsikt i
og interesse for den politiske utviklingen i et av Norges
hovedsamarbeidsland for bistand i Asia. Et av hovedargumentene i boken
er at interne forskjeller, basert på kjønn, kaste, klasse og religiøs
tilhørighet, blir undertrykt til fordel for en overordnet og homogen
etnonasjonal identitet. Dette skaper et bilde av et skarpt skille
mellom de som inkluderes i nasjonen (vi) og de som ekskluderes (de
andre). Bidragsyterne i boken hevder at singalesisk og tamilsk
etnonasjonalisme utgjør politiske strategier for bestemte grupper innen
de to nasjonalitetene.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(1996).
"Fremmedarbeider, flyktning, asylsøker: Norsk forvaltnings sosialt rom og kulturell identitet".
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS).
ISSN 0040-716X.
4.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(1996).
"Fremmedarbeider, flyktning, asylsøker: Norsk forvaltnings sosialt rom og kulturell identitet".
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS).
ISSN 0040-716X.
4.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2020).
Jon Horgen Friberg: Konflikt, fellesskap og forandring. Foreldreskap og sosial kontroll i innvandrede familier fra Pakistan, Somalia og Sri Lanka.
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS).
ISSN 0040-716X.
61(3),
p. 311–314.
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Fuglerud, Øivind & Wainwright, Leon
(2015).
Introduction.
In Fuglerud, Øivind & Wainwright, Leon (Ed.),
OBJECTS AND IMAGINATION
Perspectives on Materialization and Meaning.
Berghahn Books.
ISSN 9781782385684.
p. 1–24.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2011).
Art, ambiguity and ethnographic exhibitions – reflections on a visit to MoA, British Columbia.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2008).
Making family through political religion – local bonding and homeland imaginaries among Tamils in Norway.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2007).
Bokmelding: Mellom to kulturer, av Sharam Algasi, Katrine Fangen og Ivar Frønes (Gyldendal Akademisk 2006).
Tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning.
ISSN 1502-7759.
p. 99–101.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2007).
Bokomtale: Jon Chr. Knudsen, Capricious worlds. Vietnamese life journeys (Münster: Lit Verlag).
Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift.
ISSN 0802-7285.
p. 313–314.
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Gressgård, Randi; Andersson, Mette; Fuglerud, Øivind; Jacobsen, Christine M. & Rogstad, Jon
(2006).
Forskning og feighet.
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2003).
Michele Ruth Gamburd: The Kitchen Soon's handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka's Migrant Housemaids (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press) 2000).
American Anthropologist.
ISSN 0002-7294.
105(2).
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2003).
'Generøst forrædreri eller sosialantropologisk vådeskudd - Unni Wikans Generous Betrayal'.
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS).
ISSN 0040-716X.
Full text in Research Archive
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Fuglerud, Øivind
(2003).
Christine M. Jacobsen: Tilhørighetens mange former: Unge muslimer i Norge. (Oslo: Unipax 2002).
Tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning.
ISSN 1502-7759.
Full text in Research Archive
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Bruland, Stine; Bottos, Lorenzo Cañás & Fuglerud, Øivind
(2015).
UNDERNEATH THE MARGOSA TREE: Re-creating meaning in a Tamil family after war and migration.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet.
ISSN 9788232612352.
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As of today, more than half of Sri Lanka’s entire pre-war Tamil population live outside the island due to the brutal thirty year long civil war. In this dissertation I explore how one extended family that used to live together in one village, the ur of “Korte”, strive to re-orient themselves in times of rupture and loss when living dispersed throughout the world. Based on fieldwork among members of the family living in Jaffna, Oslo, Paris and London, I focus on their new practices of maintaining family bonds across distances. I discuss how the family members born and raised in Korte experience having lost their past life, and how they try to re-create meaning in their new situation. I argue that sondam (family/relatives) and ur (natal village/home) together with the person are remembered and perceived as an enmeshment - inextricable elements of each other. Sondam and ur is thus crucial for being a Tamil person and for living a morally good and meaningful life. Living dispersed from both sondam and ur therefore becomes a challenging situation. In their quest to re-create meaning I discuss the family members’ new practices of being together and maintaining the unity of ur-sondam. I take a broad material perspective to look at how the family member’s engagement with certain objects produces emotions of presence and absence, closeness and distance to their relatives (sondam) and their past life in the ur in setting such as; arranged puberty ceremonies; commemoration of dead soldiers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); the exchange of money and gifts. Taking a Deluzian material approach to signs I argue that the sensorial quality of such objects affects those engaged. The objects and produced emotions are again associated to known concepts, ideals and thoughts based on notions of sondam and ur, contributing to making sense of their exile experience – or not. A main argument is that the relative’s engagement with particular objects produces specific affects that brings forth experiences of their past life. In this process, LTTE’s aesthetic world seems to most effectively reorient the family members in their new situation.
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Engebrigtsen, Ada & Fuglerud, Øivind
(2007).
Ungdom i flyktningfamilier. Familie og vennskap – trygghet eller frihet?
NOVA.
ISSN 9788278942536.
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Published
Sep. 11, 2012 2:23 PM
- Last modified
May 22, 2025 11:49 AM
