The Threat to Norwegian as an Academic Language

In 1991 Norwegian state institutions gained the option of introducing “performance salary” as part of local salary negotiations. One institute, in the humanities, began rewarding academic staff for their published books and articles. At the University of Oslo Institute of Philosophy in 1997, an author of a book published in Norwegian received a bonus of 7,000 NOK (ca. $1,100), while an author of a book published in English received a bonus of 15,000 NOK. An academic staff member who edited a scholarly book or professional journal in Norwegian received a bonus of 2,000 NOK. If the book or journal was published in the English language, the editor got a bonus of 5,000 NOK. The author of a doctoral thesis written in Norwegian received a bonus of 7,000 NOK, while an author of a doctoral thesis written in English received a bonus of 15,000 NOK. The author of an article in a professional, refereed journal received 1,000 NOK if the article was in Norwegian and 7,000 NOK if the article was in English. The presentation of this strategy before the Institute for Educational Research in 1997 produced protests among our academic staff. We saw the system as a danger both to our country's language and to a university's obligation to the rest of society. We saw it as a threat to democracy. Unfortunately, the case in point at the Institute of Philosophy began an ongoing policy trend.