Mari Norbakk
Current projects
Sudan-Norway Academic Cooperation (SNAC)
The Invisible Ceiling
Completed projects
Women's Human Rights and Law Reform in the Muslim World
Evaluation of the Norwegian Fredskorpset (FK Norway)
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Popular Presentations and Lectures
Social Anthropologist interested in gender, labor migration, displacement and economic inclusion.
Social Anthropologist focused on the Middle East (specifically Qatar, Egypt, and displaced communities from Sudan), as well as migrant communities in Norway. Research interests include masculinities, marriage, gender, women's rights, revolutionary practice, class, capital, entrepreneurship and migration.
For her PhD in Social Anthropology Norbakk conducted 9 months fieldwork in Qatar and has written a monograph on Qatar's Egyptian population, focused around the issue of temporariness, class, ethnic hierarchies and the intersections of capital and mobility. The monograph also deals with the longstandig history of migration between Egypt and Qatar, as well as the shifting powerstructures between the two states. Fieldwork took place as Qatar was put under blockade by its neighboring countries and also stands as an enthnographic documentation of the grassroot-level experience of an unfolding crisis.
Norbakk has also done extensive fieldwork in Egypt and written on men and masculinities within the post-revolutionary context of Egypt post 2011. Her work has been published, amongst other places, in leading journal Men and Masculinities. Later on, turning to qeustions regarding displacement and economic inclusion her longterm engagement with Egypt also includes the Sudanese community, in particular those displaced by the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023.
Between 2021 and 2025 Norbakk was a postdoctoral researcher with The Invisible Ceiling: Muslim Immigrant Entrepreneurs Navigate Norway's Financial Environment, a four-year project examining Muslim immigrant entrepreneurship in Norway, with a particular focus on economic integration and the role of finance. The project brought together a radically interdiciplinary team of industry experts, finance, anthropology, political science and digital humanities.
In addition to conducting qualitative, ethnographic research in Egypt, Tunisia and Qatar, Norbakk has been involved in preparing literature reviews and background material for various projects, as well as assisting in editorial work, coordination, logistics and eventplanning. She has also produced commissioned work for entities like Norad, Norwegian MFA, Rafto foundation, and engaged with civil society actors, especially on the topic of gender equality. She has been a teammember in various evaluations of aid and development, and is looking to further develop her insights on intersections of qualitative and quantitative methods.