In Search of Urban Commons Through Squatting: The Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Creation and Organization of Everyday Utopian Spaces in Sweden

This study bridges research on squatting and urban commons by studying squatting - when collectively self-organized for community wide social (material and immaterial) benefit and within largely anti-capitalist and anarchist ways - as a practice of commoning. In this paper we analyze the "why" and "how" of such a practice in a Swedish context. A country where the provision of community spaces has historically been satisfied by public authorities within a contradictory hybrid model of corporatist/state capitalism amidst a traditionally well-developed public service sector and strong civil society. Our empirical material consists of 17 semi-structured interviews with squatters, as well as the authors' participant observation at the longest lasting squats in the Swedish capital since 2000. We focus on how the creation of this 'free and voluntary' community led to a 'commoning' of knowledge and skills within squatters' daily lives; and how these practices developed, evolved, and were maintained. Our analysis shows that while the space, most objects in it, and the provisioning of goods there were commoned; the most profound 'commoning' there was immaterial in nature. This commoning centered on the un/intentional sharing, diffusion, and commoning of knowledge, skills, and even emotions and feelings which happened within the mixture of planned and autonomously rotating responsibilities in space

Going against institutionalization : New forms of urban activism in Poland

The first decade after the fall of state socialism in Poland was characterized by moderate aspirations to reform or oppose the dominant (neoliberal) rhetoric by social movements in the country. In the last decade, a turn toward more informal grassroots activity has been observed by scholars, above all in the field of urban activism. This article looks into this recent development in urban activism and focuses especially on the hitherto neglected grassroots, noninstitutionalized, and nonformalized forms of activism that take place in Polish cities aimed at urban change. It will be argued that this form of urban activism developed as a reaction to professionalization and NGO-ization of social movements, defying the (until now) established forms of organizing collectively. The analysis is built on qualitative data gathered in 2014–2015, including 36 in-depth interviews with urban activists in informal initiatives and groups in different Polish cities

Legitimizing and Enacting Contradictory Ideals: Squatting in Sweden in the 1980s

Squatting in Sweden peaked in the 1980s. Stockholm and Gothenburg were the epicenters, among other smaller towns throughout the country. Researchers identified punk music, influences from abroad, anarchist ideas and the emergence of urban social movements as central to the increase in squatting during this decade. Only a fragmented picture of squatting events has been presented until now, however, often at the city level and during a limited period. This perspective fails to connect squatting actions across the country, and beyond its borders. Departing from the approach to squatting as a form of contentious repertoire, I will analyze how squatters negotiated and legitimized their actions, and in relation to different opponents. Special attention is given to the contradictions caused by different and sometimes contradictory ideals in the communication of the significance of squatting. Based on materials produced by the squatters and other secondary materials, this chapter explores the arenas of interactions, or fields where contentious actors interact within their own group or movement, or with the authorities and the police

Reclaiming Inclusive Politics : Squatting in Sweden 1968-2016

Squatting, or the use of property without authorization, can take many formsin different contexts. It has been used as both a means in a struggle for amore just city by redistributing resources, and a goal in itself. In Sweden,the first squatting attempts occurred in late 1960s, in the same period asmany other squatting attempts in Northern and Western Europe. Theobjective of this paper is to outline the history of squatting in Sweden.Currently, there is no systematic and comprehensive research on this matter,and aside from presenting a historical outline of squatting, the ambition is topresent a typology of goals or main motivations behind squatting in Swedenbetween 1968 and 2016. The analysis is qualitative and based on dataproduced by and about squatting activists and gathered from national andlocal news media, alternative leftist news media, thematic magazines,documentary films, material produced by the studied groups (pamphlets,Internet-based websites and blogs), a transcript of a debate on the topic ofsquatting in Sweden including activists involved in squatting, along withprevious research on the topic. It is argued that it is important to studyshort-term and demonstrative squatting as it has the ability to uncover howsquatting is used as a technique, and thus contribute to a betterunderstanding of the phenomenon. I distinguish between the goals ofproviding housing, preserving areas from clearance and demolition,protecting areas from environmental threats, creating free spaces foractivities, and criticizing national (welfare) politics. Furthermore, it ismaintained that despite its short-lived character Swedish squatting has beencontinuous with a low frequency, and overtly political in its character, byreclaiming the rights to housing and more egalitarian distribution of societalresources

Social Movements Seen as Radical Political Actors: : The Case of the Polish Tenants’ Movement

This article casts new light on the processes of collective claims and identity formation in social movements, with the help of the radical political framework of Laclau and Mouffe (Hegemony and socialist strategy: towards a radical democratic politics, Verso, London, 2001). Polish tenants, classified as “losers” of transition and marginalized in the mainstream discourse, nevertheless act collectively, mobilizing alliances with other democratic struggles and thus challenge the hegemony of neoliberal dogmas in the country. The very fact of mobilization of a socially and economically deprived group demanding the right to the city is provocative in the studied context. The empirical foundations of our study are 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with Polish tenants’ activists cross-referenced with media material produced by and about the movement, and previous studies on the topic. The contribution of this article is twofold: it combines social movement theory with radical political framework and fills the empirical gap in the body of literature on social movements in post-socialist Europe

Bortträngning pågår : Renovering som kulturellt trauma

Displacement in the making. Renoviction as cultural trauma Based on interviews with tenants in an area facing eviction following forced renovation, this study presents an analysis of the reactions and forms of resistance that arise among residents in the early phase of a renovation process. The concepts of cultural trauma, resistance and action repertoires are used in the analysis to understand the processes that residents in renovation areas have to face and how their collective self-image and strategies for action change during these. We argue that the exceptionally high trust in Sweden, based on the Swedish welfare state and housing policy, results in traumatic experiences among tenants when facing forced renovation. In this study, we respond to questions about how traumatic experiences are expressed, what causes are identified by the tenants, and what forms of resistance emerge among tenants who face costly renovations. We hereby demonstrate how the experienced cultural trauma can be transformed into individual and collective resistance actions.Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

In Search of Urban Commons Through Squatting: The Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Creation and Organization of Everyday Utopian Spaces in Sweden

This study bridges research on squatting and urban commons by studying squatting - when collectively self-organized for community wide social (material and immaterial) benefit and within largely anti-capitalist and anarchist ways - as a practice of commoning. In this paper we analyze the "why" and "how" of such a practice in a Swedish context. A country where the provision of community spaces has historically been satisfied by public authorities within a contradictory hybrid model of corporatist/state capitalism amidst a traditionally well-developed public service sector and strong civil society. Our empirical material consists of 17 semi-structured interviews with squatters, as well as the authors' participant observation at the longest lasting squats in the Swedish capital since 2000. We focus on how the creation of this 'free and voluntary' community led to a 'commoning' of knowledge and skills within squatters' daily lives; and how these practices developed, evolved, and were maintained. Our analysis shows that while the space, most objects in it, and the provisioning of goods there were commoned; the most profound 'commoning' there was immaterial in nature. This commoning centered on the un/intentional sharing, diffusion, and commoning of knowledge, skills, and even emotions and feelings which happened within the mixture of planned and autonomously rotating responsibilities in space

Responsibilizing renovation: governing strategies and resistance in the context of the transformation of Swedish housing policy

This article contributes to the emerging body of literature in the field of urban studies that addresses the classical ‘division of labour’ between analyses of the workings of urban power at the macro- and micro-levels. Our theoretical framework aims to capture how processes of power are exercised in processes of urban restructuring. In the field of gentrification studies there have been calls for theoretical developments based on analyses of various local contexts in which rent gaps may be exploited in similar yet varied ways. We contribute to this discussion through an analysis of governing strategies and protests linked to urban restructuring in the context of the so-called Million Programme in Sweden’s two largest cities. In particular, we address the consequences of public housing companies being forced to operate according to ‘business principles’. Importantly, we demonstrate how advanced liberal government, under the influence of neoliberal ideology, has largely worked through a process of responsibilization. We discern a chain of responsibilization leading from the macro-, via the meso-, to the micro-level – ultimately involving the individual tenant; and highlight how a struggle that we call a politics of responsibility has taken place around each link in the chain