The LandBruk seminar series is open to all who are interested in, or curious about the Nordic region and various forms of land use. It is possible to attend the seminars in person or on Zoom.
Language
This seminar will be in Norwegian, with a PowerPoint presentation in English. The discussion will be both in Norwegian and English.
Abstract
I 1960 bodde det omtrent like mange på den norske bygda som i byene. Siden den gang har bygdene – som fjelldalen Valdres i sørøst-Norge, hvor jeg både vokste opp og har gjort feltarbeid siden 2020 – gjennomgått betydelige endringer. Befolkningen har gradvis blitt mindre, arbeidsplasser, skoler og tjenester har blitt mer sentralisert – og landbruket – en hjørnestein i lokalsamfunnet, er i ferd med å avvikles. De siste årene har det vært en årlig nedgang på 20% i antall produktive enheter, med 602 registrerte bruk i 2025.
Mange norske bygder, slik man har kjent dem, er i ferd med å dø ut. Samtidig er interessen for bygdenes kvaliteter stor for de som betrakter dem utenfra – enten det gjelder naturen og friluftsliv, lokal mat, stillheten, eller muligheten for en hytte langt borte fra byens hverdagsstress. Hvilke muligheter og utfordringer ligger i den nye versjonen av bygda, som vokser frem i det ‘post-agrare’ landskapet, der landbruket erstattes av nye økonomiske, sosiale og kulturelle virkeligheter – ikke minst når det gjelder omformingen av land?
Innlegget er basert på et bokmanus jeg arbeider med, med arbeidstittelen ‘Rurality 2.0: Redefining Urban-Rural Divides in the Mountains of Norway’.
English
Rurality 2.0: Opportunities and Challenges in Post-/Neo-Agrarian Rural Norway
In 1960, roughly the same number of people lived in rural Norway as in its cities. Since then, rural communities—such as the mountain valley of Valdres in southeastern Norway, where I grew up and have conducted fieldwork since 2020—have undergone significant changes. The population has gradually declined, jobs, schools, and services have become more centralized, and agriculture—once a cornerstone of local life—is slowly being phased out. In recent years, there has been an annual decrease of 20% in the number of productive units, with 602 registered farms in 2025.
Many Norwegian rural communities, as they have traditionally been known, are thus on the verge of disappearing. At the same time, interest in the qualities of rural life remains strong among outsiders—whether it's the nature and outdoor activities, local food, the tranquility, or the opportunity to own a cabin far from the stress of urban everyday life.
What opportunities and challenges lie in this new version of rural Norway, emerging in the ‘post-agrarian’ landscape, where agriculture is being replaced by new economic, social, and cultural realities—particularly in terms of land transformation?
This talk is based on a book manuscript I am currently working on, with the working title Rurality 2.0: Redefining Urban-Rural Divides in the Mountains of Norway.
About LandBruk
LandBruk (LandUse) is a group of researchers and students associated with the NorLab research group, who come together to discuss anthropological perspectives on land-use in the Nordics.