Kaja Borchgrevink

Senior Researcher

Kaja Borchgrevink
Email: kaja@prio.org
Twitter: @KajaBorch

Research Interests

Kaja Borchgrevink takes an interest in religion and development, the politics of aid, and everyday religion among Muslims in Norway - often with a focus on gender and transnational perspectives.  

Kaja is currently leading the HUMA-project, researching Muslim humanitarian actors' approaches to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

She has recently completed the project 'Financial Exclusion, Islamic Finance and Housing in the Nordic Countries' (FINEX).

In her doctoral research Kaja investigated the relationship between private Islamic charity and poverty reduction practices in the context of Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora in Oslo, Norway.

Kaja has studied religious education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the transnational connections between religious seminaries (madrasas) in the two countries.  Earlier research also includes studies of the relationship between civil society and peace building in Afghanistan with a focus on religious groups and networks.

Kaja Borchgrevink has a background from Development Studies and practical development work in South Asia.


Background

​​​​Work experience:

2017:            Senior Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

2006 - 2016  Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

2004 – 2005: Programme Grant Officer, Aga Khan Foundation – Afghanistan

2003 – 2004: Programme Officer, Small Grants Programme Unit, UNDP Pakistan

2001– 2003: Programme Officer, Sustainable Livelihoods Unit, UNDP Pakistan

2001: Intern, Orangi Pilot Project Research an Training Institute (OPP-RTI), Pakistan

 

Education:

2017: PhD  Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences 

2000: MSc Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK.

1999: Cand. mag. in Hindi-Urdu language studies, History of Religion, South Asia Studies and International Human Rights, University of Oslo.

 

Languages spoken:

English (proficient)

Hindi and Urdu (conversational)

Norwegian (native)

 

PRIO Projects

Finished:

Publications

The following publications are specific to the PRIO Migration Centre. A more complete list is available at www.prio.org.

All Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Article

Borchgrevink, Kaja & Ida Roland Birkvad (2021) Religious norms and homeownership among Norwegian Muslim women, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1965866: 1–18.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2021) The Necessity of Taking a Loan, and the Necessity of Not Doing So: Islamic Finance among Muslim Minorities in Denmark and Norway, Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 34(2): 117–129.
Erdal, Marta Bivand & Kaja Borchgrevink (2017) With faith in development: Organizing transnational Islamic charity, Progress in Development Studies 17(3): 214–228.
Erdal, Marta Bivand & Kaja Borchgrevink (2016) Transnational Islamic charity as everyday rituals, Global Networks. DOI: 10.1111/glob.12137.

Book Chapter

Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2017) The Circulation of Transnational Islamic Charity, in Šerbedžija, Vojin; & Magdalena Nowicka, eds, Migration and Social Remittances in a Global Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (259–280).

Popular Article

Borchgrevink, Kaja; Torkel Brekke & Marta Bivand Erdal (2019) Id-feiring og muslimsk giverglede, VG, 5 June.
Erdal, Marta Bivand & Kaja Borchgrevink (2018) Skal gi så det svir når fasten er slutt, Dagens Næringsliv, 15 June.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2017) Muslimsk medmenneseklighet [Muslim compassion], Dagbladet, 30 June.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2017) Muslimsk medmenneseklighet [Muslim compassion], Dagbladet, 30 June.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2015) Muslimer flest feirer id [Most Muslims Celebrate Eid], Dagbladet, 16 July.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2014) Norske fremmedhjelpere [Foreign helpers], NRK Ytring, 19 December.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2014) Muslimsk dugnad for de fattige [Muslim charity for the poor], VG, 28 July.
Borchgrevink, Kaja & Marta Bivand Erdal (2013) Den usynlige bistanden, Klassekampen, 11 July.

PRIO Policy Brief

Erdal, Marta Bivand & Kaja Borchgrevink (2015) Other Voices, Other Choices?, PRIO Policy Brief, 15. Oslo: PRIO.
Erdal, Marta Bivand & Kaja Borchgrevink (2015) Diaspora Development Engagements Seen Through the Prism of Islamic Charity, PRIO Policy Brief, 16. Oslo: PRIO.