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“The People’s Park is bigger, more freely located, more beautiful and – Our own park”: Workers, parks, and the spaces of class struggle in turn of the century Norrköping, Sweden. Environment

Jönsson, Erik LU ; Pries, Johan LU and Mitchell, Don (2022) In Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 40(6).
Abstract (Swedish)
Engaging with scholarship on hegemony, park history, and in particular with Sevilla-Buitrago’s analysis of Central Park as a pedagogical space, this article traces the establishment of two parks in the Swedish textile industry centre of Norrköping. These parks, bearing very similar names – Folkparken and Folkets Park – were established just six years apart. But though both parks linked “park” and “people” (Folk), their intended political effects were radically different. The 1895 Folkparken was an elite attempt to create a de-politicised landscape park, while the 1901 Folkets Park was instead the labour movement’s attempt to create their own space. Exploring this latter park enables telling a story of park production beyond elite... (More)
Engaging with scholarship on hegemony, park history, and in particular with Sevilla-Buitrago’s analysis of Central Park as a pedagogical space, this article traces the establishment of two parks in the Swedish textile industry centre of Norrköping. These parks, bearing very similar names – Folkparken and Folkets Park – were established just six years apart. But though both parks linked “park” and “people” (Folk), their intended political effects were radically different. The 1895 Folkparken was an elite attempt to create a de-politicised landscape park, while the 1901 Folkets Park was instead the labour movement’s attempt to create their own space. Exploring this latter park enables telling a story of park production beyond elite dominance. Like dozens of similar labour-controlled parks across Sweden, the People’s Park allowed Norrköping’s labour movement to shape their landscape long before the Social Democrats made any significant inroads into parliamentary politics. Combining a platform for socialistic agitation, with a theatre and space for recreation, this park quickly became central to Norrköping’s working class. Thereby, it could both enable social-democratic presence at an everyday level, and function as an important resource during periods of intense class-struggle.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
public space, Urban parks, labor history, social democracy, park history, historical geography, populism
in
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
volume
40
issue
6
publisher
Pion Ltd
external identifiers
  • scopus:85141443513
ISSN
1472-3433
DOI
10.1177/02637758221137598
project
Prefigurative platforms, public spaces, and planning phenomena: exploring the historical geographies of Swedish People’s Parks
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
6b446356-9200-408f-9fc8-a2f5fc47dd20
date added to LUP
2022-12-12 15:52:57
date last changed
2023-06-15 04:07:38
@article{6b446356-9200-408f-9fc8-a2f5fc47dd20,
  abstract     = {{Engaging with scholarship on hegemony, park history, and in particular with Sevilla-Buitrago’s analysis of Central Park as a pedagogical space, this article traces the establishment of two parks in the Swedish textile industry centre of Norrköping. These parks, bearing very similar names – Folkparken and Folkets Park – were established just six years apart. But though both parks linked “park” and “people” (Folk), their intended political effects were radically different. The 1895 Folkparken was an elite attempt to create a de-politicised landscape park, while the 1901 Folkets Park was instead the labour movement’s attempt to create their own space. Exploring this latter park enables telling a story of park production beyond elite dominance. Like dozens of similar labour-controlled parks across Sweden, the People’s Park allowed Norrköping’s labour movement to shape their landscape long before the Social Democrats made any significant inroads into parliamentary politics. Combining a platform for socialistic agitation, with a theatre and space for recreation, this park quickly became central to Norrköping’s working class. Thereby, it could both enable social-democratic presence at an everyday level, and function as an important resource during periods of intense class-struggle.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Jönsson, Erik and Pries, Johan and Mitchell, Don}},
  issn         = {{1472-3433}},
  keywords     = {{public space; Urban parks; labor history; social democracy; park history; historical geography; populism}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{6}},
  publisher    = {{Pion Ltd}},
  series       = {{Environment and Planning D: Society and Space}},
  title        = {{“The People’s Park is bigger, more freely located, more beautiful and – Our own park”: Workers, parks, and the spaces of class struggle in turn of the century Norrköping, Sweden. Environment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02637758221137598}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/02637758221137598}},
  volume       = {{40}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}