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Anne Sæbø left Norway for the USA ten years ago. Now she is back as a guest researcher. Here she reflects over the similarities and differences, and how American ways gradually affect Norwegian traditions; Christmas decorations, for example.

In Manndalen, a village in the county of Troms in the north of Norway, Laestadianism is a strong influence in the community. How does this affect those in the community who do not belong to this religious movement? Why is home baptism still practised , while Christmas trees – which were previously rejected – are now on their way in to every living room? Lisa Vangen has conducted fieldwork and interviews in the village.

Oil and gas has become the mantra for the future in Norway, not only connected to the Snøhvit (literally, Snow White) project at Hammerfest, in the far north of Norway, but in the whole of the county of Finnmark. Anthropologist Britt Kramvig fears that as a consequence the other untapped resources of the region, like its many educated women, are being forgotten.

In Norway, the local council, the county parliament and the national parliament are all a long way from achieving a gender balance among their elected representatives. But now, it has been achieved in the Sámi parliament. In the autumn elections of 2005 the ratio of women in the Sámi parliament increased from 18 to 51 per cent. And for the first time a woman, Aili Keskitalo, has been chosen as the Sámi Parliament president. What happened?

Anti-gay remarks come up in elite sports at regular intervals. Kjetil Rekdal, the manager of elite division football team Vålerenga, has said, among other things: “I am homophobic”. Why are male dominated sports environments often homophobic? Heidi Eng and Ulla-Britt Lilleaas have, in their respective research projects, attempted to find some answers.

Political committees in Norwegian local authorities should have a representation of at least 40 per cent of each sex. In practice, however, it does not work like this. The law on quotas often has to yield to arguments that it constitutes a threat to local democracy. Ingrid Guldvik has written her doctoral thesis on quotas and gender justice.

We are approaching a general election in Norway. How equal will the gender balance in the new Storting (the Norwegian national parliament) be? Today, with women occupying 37 per cent of seats in the Storting, Norway has a poorer gender balance in its parliament than both Sweden and Rwanda!

In Norway few girls choose an education in computing. In Malaysia, on the other hand, an education in computing is popular with girls. There, computing is considered a suitable career for women. Sociologist Vivian Anette Lagesen has investigated the differences between the two countries in her recently completed doctoral thesis in Interdisciplinary Culture Studies.

The Nordic countries are in a unique position in the fight against mens’ violence against women. However, challenges remain that the Nordic countries have not addressed, says Liz Kelly.

– The first women’s movement in Norway was interested primarily in the rights of middle class women - with the right to an upper secondary education and to study at university. However, many of these middle class women were assisted by their servants, says professor emeritus Sølvi Sogner. She is now writing a servants’ history.

The Daddytrack is an expression masculinities researcher Øystein Gullvåg Holter has borrowed from the Americans. In the USA, yes to daddytrack means no to career. Holter wants the Nordic countries and Europe to develop an alternative daddytrack that does not force men into choosing between work and family.

In Turkey women working in news and in newspaper editing are few and far between. However, how much better is the situation in Norway? Huriye Toker has compared the gender balance in the two Turkish newspapers Hürriyet and Akşam with Norwegian VG and Dagsavisen. She discovered a surprising number of similarities.

What are the lives of Russian women settled in northern Norway like? Stereotypes about Russian women as prostitutes or old-fashioned housewives abound in local communities in the north of Norway, explains researcher Jana Sverdljuk.