The right to stay put:

Resistance and organizing in the wake of changing housing policies in Sweden

Jennie Gustafsson (in collaboration with Allt åt alla Malmö), Elof Hellström, Åse Richard and Scott Springfeldt

Keywords: rental housing, neoliberalization, renoviction, housing struggles, Sweden

Abstract:

Tenants in Sweden increasingly face rising rents and displacement due to decades of ongoing housing deregulation. In this text, we explore different manifestations of these injustices, and reflect upon consequences and responses as they crystalize locally. By visiting the three cities of Stockholm, Malmö and Uppsala, we highlight three different examples of how tenants respond and formulate protests vis-a-vis privatization through tenure conversion (Stockholm), gentrification spurred by private rental actors (Malmö) and battles over green space and displacement in the rental housing stock (Uppsala). These vignettes exemplify how policy changes play out in different local settings and illustrate how resistance manifests itself on the ground.

https://doi.org/10.54825/MKVM1056

Jennie Gustafsson is a Ph.D. candidate concerned with housing politics. The group Allt åt alla Malmö engages with housing struggles. Elof Hellström is active in the collectives Mapping the Unjust City and Cyklopen. Åse Richard is a Ph.D. student researching renoviction processes and she is active in the network Alla Ska Kunna Bo Kvar. Scott Springfeldt is a research assistant and a member of the right to housing organization Ort till ort, Stockholm.

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