ABSTRACT
In this article, we juxtapose the ways "Muslim women" and "foreign prostitutes" are commonly constituted as victims in media and politics. We analyze the functions of these two prototypical female victims in terms of the role they play in epitomizing "the problems of globalization" and in reinforcing the existing social and political structures. Victim discourse, when tied to the transnational proliferation of the sex industry and of (radical) Islam, has depoliticizing effects because it places nonindividual causes of victimization outside of "our" polity and society and casts the state as protector and neutral arbiter of national and global inequalities, marginalization, and social conflict.
Subject(s)
Crime Victims , Islam , Sex Work , Social Control Policies , Women's Health , Women's Rights , Conflict, Psychological , Crime Victims/economics , Crime Victims/education , Crime Victims/history , Crime Victims/legislation & jurisprudence , Crime Victims/psychology , Cultural Characteristics , Family Conflict/economics , Family Conflict/ethnology , Family Conflict/history , Family Conflict/legislation & jurisprudence , Family Conflict/psychology , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Internationality/history , Internationality/legislation & jurisprudence , Islam/history , Islam/psychology , Political Systems/history , Religion/history , Sex Work/ethnology , Sex Work/history , Sex Work/legislation & jurisprudence , Sex Work/psychology , Social Control Policies/economics , Social Control Policies/history , Social Control Policies/legislation & jurisprudence , Women/education , Women/history , Women/psychology , Women's Health/ethnology , Women's Health/history , Women's Rights/economics , Women's Rights/education , Women's Rights/history , Women's Rights/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: According to a recent Danish study, public health policies in Sweden and Denmark have become more oriented towards the individual over the last few years. We wanted to explore the development in Norway over the last decade. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Changes in policy have been identified by comparing arguments about motives, definitions and strategies in two government white papers on public health from 1993 and 2003. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: Both white papers discuss public health policy in a broad sense, not only the state of the health and social services. We find that the 2003 paper focused on the individual's responsibility for his or her own health; the 1993 paper was more about institutions and structures. We conclude that Norwegian policy in this field has an increasing focus on the individual. At the same time we observe a greater concern over social inequality in relation to health.
