Equal for Whom?: An Analysis of Multicultural Policies in Norway and the US Through the Lens of Immigrant Unemployment

Norway and the United States boast diverse and equal societies. Both have attempted to implement multicultural policies to facilitate immigrants' integration into the host society. Engaging with the theories of racism, xenophobia, and multiculturalism, this paper analyzes the immigrant unemployment outcomes from Norway and the United States from 2015-2020 to identify patterns and anticipate causal relationships from these patterns. Standardized data from both countries show that immigrants from Global South countries have far worse employment outcomes than immigrants from Global North countries. The xenophobic and racist histories of both countries could explain this. This paper analyzes the multicultural policies of both countries against the backdrop of the unemployment rates for immigrants to demonstrate that the multiculturalist policies are having an unequal effect on specific groups of immigrants. This paper concludes by offering recommendations for further and more robust multicultural policies.