Disparity in Norway

November 23 2012

The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title ‘Disparity in Norway’. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.

Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.

Programme:

Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future

Is there a need to ‘civilise’ capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?

Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).

Tuesday, 9 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: Are we heading towards greater social and financial disparity?

Is the Norwegian tradition of egalitarianism sustainable? Are the labour market and the skewed growth in affluence creating new proletariats and social disparities? Are the reports of greater financial disparities exaggerated?

Debate featuring Kristin Clemet, managing director of Civita, Jon Hippe, director of Fafo, and EconomistCamilla Bakken Øvald (moderator).

Tuesday, 23 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: What constitutes social justice in a heterogeneous society?

Globalisation, technological change and immigration make Norway more widely diversified, and ‘we’ is becoming more different. Does this change our view of social justice? What kinds of disparities should we try to counteract? How can we achieve equitable distribution of the benefits of social welfare?

Debate featuring Anne Britt Djuve, head of research at Fafo, Alexander W. Cappelen, professor at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Magnus E. Marsdal, researcher and chair of the Board at the Manifest Centre for Social Analysis, and Dilek Ayhan, managing director of Alarga (moderator).

News

Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.