In 2011, a Norwegian right-wing extremist killed 77 mostly young people in an attack on proponents of multiculturalism. A critical event of this magnitude is important in a nation’s collective memory. For young people’s political socialization and value orientation, it could be crucial. Adolescents’ memories and interpretations of terrorism are an understudied area. On the basis of different memory narratives among ethnic Norwegian adolescents, who were 13 or 14 in 2011, implications of the attacks, seen as a case of collective memory formation of terrorism, are discussed in terms of how young people remember and interpret the attacks and negotiate between competing narratives. Focus group interviews conducted in 2015–2016 with 18-year-olds showed a marked tension between support for democratic values and numerous references to individuals and organizations having critical views on immigration and diversity and the importance of active agents promoting the conflicting narratives.

: International migration is one of the defining issues of our time. In this introduction to scientific texts on migration it is argued that teaching on migration in teacher training and in secondary and upper secondary school would benefit from the conscious use of the concept of powerful knowledge when texts are selected. Thus, about 30 peer-reviewed texts in English, Swedish and Norwegian on international migration are referred to and discussed from the point of view of powerful knowledge. Five concepts or perspectives are suggested as important and useful. These are push-pull as explanation to migration; levels of analysis; network; the role of women in migration and the role of religion in migration. Further, the tension between the positions of an alleged ‘methodological nationalism’ and the national characteristics of migration are discussed. Among the suggested concepts ‘levels of analysis’ and ‘network’ are proposed as especially important in order to develop powerful knowledge. Both concepts are highly useful in order to give teachers and students some structure and order in the studied issue while the concepts also can be re-contextualized to and used within other issue areas.        

The terror attacks in Norway 2011, targeting what the perpetrator described as proponents of immigration and multicultural society, created exceptional circumstances for people to reflect on issues of belonging. In this kind of situation it is assumed that people emphasize their affinity with the affected country. This, in turn, makes the problematization of the affinities displayed particularly interesting since the act of expressing them even in a very taxing situation indicates their importance. Texts by individuals from ethnic minorities, written soon after the attacks, are analysed in terms of conceptions of 'Norwegianness'. Results show explicit support for civic values but also multiple expressions of not feeling recognized as part of majority society also from individuals obviously acculturated to Norwegian lifestyles and cultural codes. These expressions are explained in terms of whiteness-non-whiteness and religion.

The challenging effects of globalization upon the nation-state have been a recurrent theme in the social science discourse since the 1990’s. Nationally organized education is also seen as challenged by new demands originating from globalization. In this article it is argued that ‘nation-state’ and ‘national identity’ are highly relevant concepts when discussing a citizenship education that seeks to develop a civic ethos with, potentially, a global reach. It is further argued that the understanding of such an ethos would benefit significantly from incorporating the role of political trust since trust has been identified as a main feature of the social capital that makes democracy work. Three themes are brought together: national identity and identification, the importance for democracy of political trust and the challenges citizenship education face when carried out in a national context but intended to manage issues that go far beyond the reach of the nation-state. The importance of citizenship education is discussed using recent research on the Swedish citizenship education classroom.