Contextualising Diversity, Work and Mobility Across Time: Cases from Norway's 'High North'

Abstract

Research into language, work, and migration has evolved rapidly during the past decade. The majority of studies focus on contemporary cases. However, work migration and linguistic diversity in the workplace are not phenomena solely of the early 21st century; many workplaces have been sites of multilingual encounters throughout history. While this has been acknowledged in contemporary studies (e.g., Duchêne & Heller, 2012), there exist only a few studies on language and diversity in historical workplaces (e.g., Boutet, 2001; Hewitt, 2012; Hiss, 2017). Considering the major effects of globalisation on communication and mobility, when we look at longer timescales, we see that history has shaped the current conditions. A consideration of the temporal dimensions of work and mobility as well as surrounding contexts and conditions can help make sense of present and future changes.