“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
(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:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/6b446356-9200-408f-9fc8-a2f5fc47dd20
- author
- Jönsson, Erik LU ; Pries, Johan LU and Mitchell, Don
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-12-02
- 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
- 2025-04-04 14:14:21
@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}},
}