Research interests: Political sociology, migration, social movements, diaspora mobilization, highly educated refugees, political protest. Migration from Syria, Spain and Russia.

Susanne Bygnes is professor of sociology at the University of Bergen in Norway. In her recent work, she uses "crisis" as a point of departure to understand social change through new migratory patterns, diaspora mobilization, and local community reactions. Over the past decade, she has examined three specific instances of human mobility: the aftermath of the European financial crisis, the subsequent "refugee crisis," and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Through these cases, she aims to understand how crises influence the perceptions, experiences, and responses of migrants and receiving communities. She primarily uses in-depth qualitative interviews, but also works with ethnography.

Selected publications on political aspects of the migration process

Bygnes, S and Sokolova, T (2026) To Speak or Stay Silent? Russian Migrants in Norway and the Dilemma of Political Protest During the War in Ukraine. Sociology. 

Bygnes, S (2025) Russians against the war (RAW): diaspora protest against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Post-Soviet Affairs. Part of Special Issue on Russian Migrants' Activism 

Bygnes, S (2024) Resistance Against the War Among Russian Migrants in Norway: Moral Shock and Collective Identity. [In Norwegian] Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning 65(2):1-15.

Strømsø, M and Bygnes, S (2022) Local responses to hostility to new asylum seeker centres in Norway. International Migration. 

Bye, HH, Bygnes, S and Ivarsflaten, E (2021) The Local-National Gap in Intergroup Attitudes and Far-Right Underperformance in Local Elections. Frontiers in Political Science

Bygnes, S and Flipo, A (2017) Political motivations for intra-European migration. Acta Sociologica.

 

Projects

Emerging Russian Diasporas and Anti-war Movements (ERDAM). Zois, Berlin. Funded by German Foundation for Peace Studies. (PIs: Tsypylma Darieva and Tatiana Golova)

Russian migrants and the anti-war movement in Europe (RAW) Funded by the University of Bergen (2022-2026) (PI: S. Bygnes)

Bygnes was principal investigator for the project 'Imagining and Experiencing the Refugee crisis (IMEX)' (2017-2022).

 

Bygnes had visiting scholar status at Scoula Normale Superioire de Firenze (University of Pisa)  2018 and UC Berkeley 2012, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona 2014 and Sussex University 2015.

Susanne Bygnes also disseminates actively outside the academic realm, ranging from local upper secondary schools and senior universities to governmental and NGO stakeholders and national newspapers, radio and TV.   

 

Selected public communication:

2025 Radio interview om Flyktningekrisen, NRK P1, Ukeslutt Oktober 2025 - Ukeslutt - NRK Radio

2025 Panel discussion, Studentersamfunnet: breakfast meeting about Russian identity and protest. Bergen Public Library tirsdag 21. oktober 

2025 Public lecture Why do Russian migrants in Europe protest against the regime? Apolitical socialisation and the significance of the politics of fear. Friday 13 June Bergen Public Library. Part of Bergen Municipality's seminar series on transnational discrimination and oppression. 

2024, Interview, Russisk antikrigsrørsle i Europa (fra 30 min og 20 sek) NRK2 TV Nyheter, 23. februar

2022, Webinar for all local offices of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) presenting results from Imagining and Experiencing refugee crisis-project. January 2022

2022 Public Library tour. Public talks and discussions about the results from the Imagining and Experiencing refugee crisis-project in public libraries in Western Norway. January 2022

2021 Information Film Activism Across Time and Place: Syrians’ activist trajectories in Berlin and Oslo. December 2021

Radio Interview, EKKO, NRK P2 (27.11.2020) Life on hold at the asylum seeker center

Radio interview, Nyhetsmorgen NRK P2 (20.05.2019) and interview at nrk.no (21.05.2019) about national and local level perceptions about refugee arrivals and integration.

Interview Interview BT Junior (4.10.2017)

Interview NRK Nyhetsmorgen (2.10.2017)

Interview NRK Ytring (1.10.2017)

Interview Dagsnytt 18 (18.06.2017) 

Interview TV-documentary Mottaket NRK Nett-TV (publisert 26.07.2016)

Invited op-ed kommentarartikkel, BT (21.07.2016)

Interview, Dagsnytt 18 (21.12.15)

Interview, Ytring NRK P2 (20.12.15)

Interview, TV2 Nyhetkanalen (20.12.15)

Interview, NTB, gjengitt b.la i Nettavisen (20.12.15)

Interview, Aftenposten (16.12.15)

Interview, EKKO NRK P2 (7.12.15)

Op-ed BT "Vil forlate Synkende skip" (6.10.15)

"Disse fem flokene må katalanerne løse", Interview Aftenposten (28.09.15)

Interview  Bergensavisen 14.03.15

Myten om fattige Spanjoler i Norge. Interview, Her og Nå NRK P1 17. 04.13

Op-ed Har vi multikulturalisme? VG 7. mai 2012 s. 28-29

 

Course development and teaching 

Susanne Bygnes is course responsible for the Postgraduate course SOS304 Method - Qualitative Adaptions and the Undergraduate course SOS137 Migration and inequality in diverse societies. She has experience as main supervisor for PhD-candidates who take sociological appraoches to political participation and social movements. She has supervised many MA-students, two are integrated into the RAW-project Tatiana Olsen (UiO) and Joana Macutkevic and three students have been integrated into the IMEX-project. She has also supervised MA-thesises on young migrants' transitions to adulthood and the importance of place, gender and education lever for identity formation of children of immigrants in Norway.

 

Courses

Research leadership. University of Bergen, 2025

University pedagogy 30 ECTS completed in 2019

Momentum- University of Bergen's traning program for young reserach leaders completed in 2018

 

Doctoral thesis (PhD)

• Susanne Bygnes (2013). Diversity Dilemmas. Majority approaches to societal diversity in Norway and Europe. (external link)

Academic article

• Ilse van Liempt; Susanne Bygnes (2022). Mobility dynamics within the settlement phase of Syrian refugees in Norway and The Netherlands. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2008). Interviewing People-oriented Elites. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2024). Krigsmotstand blant russiske migranter i Norge: Moralsk sjokk og kollektiv identitet. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2022). Experiencing and resisting interwoven social boundaries: the case of highly educated recent refugees in Norway. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). Gender-equality as boundary: 'Gender-nation frames' in Norwegian EU campaign organizations. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Aurore Flipo (2016). Political motivations for intra-European migration. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2013). Ambivalent Multiculturalism. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2017). Are they leaving because of the crisis? The sociological significance of anomie as a motivation for migration. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Mette Strømsø (2022). A Promise of Inclusion: On the Social Imaginary of Organised Encounters between Locals and Refugees. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2015). Mistillitens migrasjon: Europeisk sør-nord-mobilitet i kjølvannet av krisa. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2019). A collective sigh of relief: Local reactions to the estbalishment of new asylum centres in Norway.. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2010). Making equality diverse? merged gender equality and anti-discrimination measures in Norway. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). 'We are in compleete agreement' The Diversity issue, Disagreement and Change in the European Women's Lobby. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2017). Welcome to Norway! Da flyktningkrisa kom til Norge.. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2019). Not All Syrian Doctors Become Taxi Drivers: Stagnation and Continutity Among Highly Educated Syrians in Norway.. (external link)
• Mette Strømsø; Susanne Bygnes (2021). Local responses to hostility to new asylum seeker centres in Norway. (external link)
• Hege Høivik Bye; Susanne Bygnes; Elisabeth Ivarsflaten (2021). The Local-National Gap in Intergroup Attitudes and Far-Right Underperformance in Local Elections. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2025). Russians against the war (RAW): diaspora protest against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Marta Bivand Erdal (2016). Liquid migration, grounded lives: considerations about future mobility and settlement among Polish and Spanish migrants in Norway. (external link)

Media interview

• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Ser ingen fremtid i Spania. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2020). Livet på Vent på asylmottak. Intervju. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). Multikulturalismens begravelsesagenter. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2019). Fridtjof (73) fryktet «horden av unge menn». Det var før asylsøkerne kom til Lindås. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Den lange veien til Norge. (external link)

Conference lecture

• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Did we leave because of the crisis?. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Migrasjon fra Spania til Norge etter 2008. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Ingalill Herstad (2018). Crisis and continuity: Norwegian local communities in the wake of the 'refugee crisis'. (external link)
• Hege Høivik Bye; Susanne Bygnes; Elisabeth Ivarsflaten (2017). Contact between asylum seekers and Norwegians. Welcome to the neighborhood?. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). Ambivalent Multiculturalism. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Hege Høivik Bye; Elisabeth Ivarsflaten (2019). 'The Refugee Crisis’ and Its Aftermath: Understanding Local-National Dynamics. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2019). Hard-working, gender-equal and outdoorsy: contesting ‘refugeeness’ with transnational resources and local knowledge. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2011). First and Foremost a Feminist: Social Movement Leaders' Framing of Multiple Equality Claims. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2014). High-skilled Spanish migration to Norway after 2008. (external link)
• Erik Ludvig Sunnemark; Mette Andersson; Eli Ramsvik Melby et al. (2024). Sosiale bevegelser og sted - Fra Gule Vester til russiske fredsaktivister. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2018). Critical events and new trajectories: (re)-entering adulthood after seeking asylum in Norway. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2011). I have a problem with the notion of diversity. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). 'I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE NOTION OF DIVERSITY'. ANALYZING SOCIAL MOVEMENT LEADERS' OPINIONS ON MULTIPLE EQUALITY CLAIMS. (external link)

Lecture

• Susanne Bygnes; Elisabeth Ivarsflaten; Hege Høivik Bye (2022). Faglig forum: Hva har vi lært av flyktningkrisen?. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2014). The Social Construction of Whiteness. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2012). How to write an article based thesis. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2018). Flyktningestrømmer’ til Norge: Folk og fenomen. (external link)
• Isak Lekve; Mette Andersson; Susanne Bygnes (2018). Fredagssalongen #8: Fornuft og følelser. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Introdusjon til "Interne grenser: Nye former for migrajsonskontroll". (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes; Elisabeth Ivarsflaten; Hege Høivik Bye (2022). Akademisk Lunsj – Hva lærte vi av flyktningkrisa i 2015? [Podcast]. (external link)

Editorial/Leader article

• Susanne Bygnes; Marry-Anne Karlsen (2017). Krise og kontinuitet i mottak av flyktninger i Norden. (external link)

Journal review

• Susanne Bygnes (2020). Jon Horgen Friberg: Konflikt, fellesskap og forandring. Foreldreskap og sosial kontroll i innvandrede familier fra Pakistan, Somalia og Sri Lanka. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2020). "The Rule of Violence: Subjectivity, Memory and Government in Syria by Salwa Ismail". (external link)

Radio or TV participation

• Christine M. Jacobsen; Susanne Bygnes; Anne Britt Djuve et al. (2012). Teorier og politikk: Fortellinger om multikulturalismens død. (external link)

Academic book chapter

• Susanne Bygnes (2014). Ad hoc multiculturalism: Prison staff approaches to cultural and religious diversity. (external link)
• Susanne Bygnes (2008). Dorothy E. Smith. (external link)

Other presentation

• Susanne Bygnes (2025). Russisk identitet i skyggen av Putin. (external link)

Academic monograph

• Susanne Bygnes (2008). Questioning modernity and development. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Publications:

Bygnes, S and Sokolova, T (forthcoming) To Speak or Stay Silent? Russian Migrants in Norway and the Dilemma of Political Protest During the War in Ukraine. Accepted for publication in Sociology. 

Bygnes, S (2025) Russians against the war (RAW): diaspora protest against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Post-Soviet Affairs. Part of Special Issue on Russian Migrants' Activism 

Bygnes, S (2024) Resistance Against the War Among Russian Migrants in Norway: Moral Shock and Collective Identity. [In Norwegian] Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning 65(2):1-15.

Bygnes, S (2022) Experiencing and resisting interwoven social bouncaries: the case of highly educated recent refugees in Norway. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

van Liempt, I and Bygnes, S (2022) Mobility dynamics within the settlement phase of Syrian refugees in Norway and The Netherlands. Mobilities

Bygnes, S and Strømsø, M (2022) A Promise of Inclusion: On the Social Imaginary of Organised Encounters Between Locals and Refugees. Journal of Intercultural Studies

Strømsø, M and Bygnes, S (2021) Local responses to hostility to new asylum seeker centres in Norway. International Migration.

Bye, HH., Bygnes, S and Ivarsflaten, I (2021) The Local-National Gap in Intergroup Attitudes and Far-Right Underperformance in Local Elections. Frontiers in Political Science. Open access.

Bygnes, S (2021) Not All Syrian Doctors Become Taxi Drivers: Stagnation and Continuity Among Highly Educated Syrians in Norway. Int. Migration & Integration  Available Open Access

Bygnes, S (2020) A collective sigh of relief: Local reactions to the establishment of new asylum centers in Norway. Acta Sociologica https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699319833143

Bygnes, S. (2017) Welcome to Norway! Tidsskrift for Velferdsforskning 4 2017. Available Open Access

Bygnes, S. (2017) Are They Leaving Because of the Crisis? The Sociological Significance of Anomie as a Motivation for Migration. Sociology. doi: 10.1177/0038038515589300

Bygnes, S and Erdal, M (2017) Liquid Migration, grounded lives: Considerations about future mobility and settlement among Polish and Spanish migrants in Norway. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Available Open Access

Bygnes, S and Flipo, A (2016) Political Motivations for intra-European Migration. Acta Sociologica. Doi 10.117/0001699316659909. Available Open Access

Bygnes, S. (2015) Migrants of disillusion: European South-North Mobility in the wake of the crisis.//Mistillitens migrasjon: Europeisk sør-nord mobilitet i kjølvannet av krisa. Sosiologisk Tidsskrift nr 3 2015.

Bygnes, S (2014) Ad-hoc Multiculturalism: Prison staff approaches to cultural and religious diversity. In: Judicialization and Citizenship in the Welfare State. Sinding Aasen, H. etl al (eds). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bygnes, S. (2013) Ambivalent Multiculturalism. Sociology, Volume 47, issue 1, pp. 126-141. Doi: 10.1177/0038038512448560

Bygnes, S. (2012) 'We are in Complete Agreement': The Diversity Issue, Disagreement and Change in The European Women's Lobby. Social Movement Studies. Doi:10.1080/14742837.2012.703831

Bygnes, S. (2012) Gender-equality as boundary: 'Gender-nation frames' in Norwegian EU campaign organizations. European Journal of Women's Studies 19(1): 7-22.

Bygnes, S. (2010) Making Equality Diverse? Merged Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Measures in Norway NORA Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 18 (2): 88-104.

Bygnes, S. (2008) Interviewing People-oriented Elites. Eurosphere Working Paper Series. Online Working paper no. 10, 2008 (fulltekst pdf)

 

Other peer-reviewed publications:

Bygnes, S (2013) Diversity dilemmas – majority approaches to societal diversity in Norway and Europe. PhD-dissertation, University of Bergen ISBN: 9788230821909

Bygnes, S. (2008): Dorothy E. Smith. In: Kjønnsteori. Gyldendal Akademisk 2008

Bygnes, S. (2008): Questioning modernity and development. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller 2008 (112 pages, published MA-thesis)

 

Editorial:

Bygnes, S and Karlsen, M-A (2017) Krise og Kontinuitet i mottak av flyktninger i Norden. Tidsskrift for Velferdsforskning 4, 2017

 

Book review:

Bygnes, S "The Rule of Violence: Subjectivity, Memory and Government in Syria by Salwa Ismail," American Journal of Sociology 125, no. 5 (March 2020): 1423-1424.

Bygnes, S. Krimmigrasjon? den nye kontrollen av de fremmede., Nordic Journal of Migration Research 2015 5(3): 155-156

Russian migrants and the anti-war movement in Europe. (2022-) Pilot study (PI: Bygnes)

Imagining and Experiencing the 'Refugee Crisis' (IMEX). Research Council of Norway: 1 million Euros (8 mill NOK). Frame: FRIPRO Young Reserach Talents. (2017-2022) PI: Bygnes

Labor Migration in Uncertain Times: Migration from Spain to Norway. Research Council of Norway: 3.500 000 NOK. VAM. Personal Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014-2018) PI: Bygnes

Claims-Making On Behalf Of Migrants In A Time Of Populism: Comparative Survey Experiments In Norway And California PIs: Kim Voss, Irene Bloemraad (both UC Berkeley), Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and Susanne Bygnes (both UiB), 15 000 USD, Peder Sather Grant Program (2017-2018). 

Flyktningekrisa: forestillinger og erfaringer. Pilotstudie finanisert av UiB og NFR. (2016). PI: Bygnes.