“We’re Not Moving”: Solidarity and Collective Housing Struggle in a Changing Sweden

Abstract

Housing has historically been the object of struggle. This chapter addresses the fight against gentrification and renoviction in Sweden. The Swedish housing market has changed markedly in the last thirty years and, in the wake of several deregulations beginning in the 1990s, many tenants today are devoid of rights in the face of major and comprehensive renovations on their housing estates that often entail rent increases of thirty to 80%. This chapter is based on interviews with tenants who fought against rent increases in their neighborhood; all of whom faced the risk of losing their home. It aims at showing how the Swedish housing system has changed and left tenants in a precarious situation. It also shows how the traumatic experience of risking being forced out of your home can turn into a collective struggle to defend everyone’s right to stay put in their own home and neighborhood.