Research Interests
Colonization History, Decolonization, European History, History of the Present, Italian History, Libyan History, Mediterranean History, Migration Return Policies and Migration History.
Background
Mathias is a PhD Fellow affiliated with the Deporting Foreigners: Contested Norms in International Practice (NORMS) project at the Institute of Social Research (ISF), where he will be looking into the the development of norms and policy on returning “unwanted” migrants denied access to Norway and Sweden, from ca. 1970 onwards.
He was previously (2019-2022) employed as a research assistant at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and holds an MPhil in Modern International and Transnational History (MITRA) from the University of Oslo, as well as BA in History from the same institution. His thesis, titled The Persistence of Colonialism: A Century of Italo-Libyan Relationships and their Influence on the Current Mediterranean Migration Regime (1911–2017), dealt with how the previous colonial relationship between Italy and Libya affects and shapes migration management between the two countries (and the EU) today.
Methodologically he has experience with archival research, qualitative interviews and extensive literature review.
He also previously earned a BM in Composition and Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA and works as a musician and composer.
AWARDS AND HONORS
A jury composed of the Babylon journal’s editorial board and the journal editors found my article “Turning Water into Oil: Colonial Continuity in the Italo-Libyan Oil Industry” [in Norwegian] to have been the best article by a pre-PhD researcher in the 2019 editions of Babylon – Nordic journal of Middle Eastern Studies
I was awarded the HIFO-Fritt Ord Foundation Scholarship for my MPhil thesis “The Persistence of Colonialism”. The Norwegian Historical Association (HIFO) together with the Fritt Ord Foundation awards this scholarship consisting of a diploma and NOK 25000 yearly to former MA students in history who graduated the preceding year, so as to encourage the publication of their thesis as a series of articles or a monograph
Publications
journal Articles
Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog. “Turning Water into Oil: Colonial Continuity in the Italo-Libyan Oil Industry” [in Norwegian]. Babylon – Nordic Journal for Middle East Studies 17, no. 2 (2019): 32-44. Download the pdf here.
Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog. The 'Europeanization' of the Italian Migration Regime: Historicizing its Prerequisites, Development, and Transfer, from the 'Oil Shock' to the Mediterranean 'Migration Crisis', Global Histories: a Student Journal 4, no. 2 (2018): 144-162. Download the pdf here.
EDITED VOLUMES
Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog & Martin Lemberg-Pedersen (forthcoming). "The Long-Term Influence of a Short-Lived Colony". In Lemberg-Pedersen, Fett, Mayblin & Sahraoui (eds), Postcoloniality and Forced Migration: Migration Management, Surveillance and Agency. Bristol UPress (2022).
Master Thesis
Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog. The Persistence of Colonialism: A Century of Italo-Libyan Relationships and Its Influence on the Current Mediterranean Migration Regime (1911–2017). MPhil thesis. Oslo: Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo (2019). Download the pdf here.
other publications
Erdal, Marta Bivand; Jørgen Carling; Cindy Horst & Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn. Diaspora, Development and Integration: A Review of Policies and Practice, PRIO Policy Brief, 5. Oslo: PRIO (2020). Download the pdf here.
Erdal, Marta Bivand; Jørgen Carling; Cindy Horst & Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn. Integration and Development: Need for Dialogue, PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO (2020). Download the pdf here.
Martins, Bruno Oliveira & Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn. Israel and COVID-19: The politics of health, security, and government formation, MidEast Policy Brief, 6. Oslo: PRIO (2020). Download the pdf here.
Erdal, Marta Bivand; Davide Bertelli; Mathias Kruse; Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn; Arnfinn H. Midtbøen; Grete Brochmann; Pieter Bevelander; Per Mouritsen; Emily Cochran Bech & Kristian Kriegbaum Jensen. “Citizenship, Participation and Belonging in Scandinavia: Results from a survey among young adults of diverse origins in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.” PRIO Paper. Oslo: PRIO (2019). Download the pdf here.
Conference Papers
Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog. “The Long-Term Influence of a Short-Lived Colony. A Century of Italo- Libyan Relationships and Their Influence on the Current European Migration Regime in the Mediterranean.” Paper presented at The Postcoloniality and Forced Migration Workshop, University of Aalborg, Copenhagen, Denmark, 11-13 December 2019.
blog posts
Tank, Pinar; Pavel K. Baev; Jørgen Jensehaugen; Kristian Berg Harpviken; Alaa Tartir; Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn & Zenonas Tziarras (2020) What a Biden Presidency Could Mean for the Middle East, PRIO Blog, 12 November.
The Persistence of Colonialism, posted to the PRIO blog on May 13, 2020 and filed under Migration, Regions and Powers. Accessible here.
Contact me at mail@mathiastjonn.com