Tamil Refugees in Pain: Challenging Solidarity in the Norwegian Welfare State

摘要

This article discusses issues of power, stigmatisation and marginalisation associated with social structures and values promoted as part of a welfare project of individual rights and solidarity. Based on my fieldwork in northern Norway, the encounters of Tamil refugees with the Norwegian welfare state are described, focusing on the difficulties they experience in consulting health officials in the diagnosis and treatment of various aches and pains. From this perspective, the welfare state effects a subtle blend of toleration and exclusion by offering individual support and assistance in becoming ‘like us’. By giving credit to cultural differences, health personnel might instead appreciate that, although biomedicine and Norwegian ways and values may address many Norwegians’ pain, they do not ease the pain of many others. Exploring pain beyond pre-defined schemes not only gives the patient a sense of humanity and personhood but, it is suggested, teaches us new truths about the social relations of which we are all part.View full textDownload full textKeywordsTamil Refugees, Pain, Social Stigma, Welfare State, Humanity, NorwayRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.521331