(Re)politicizing the tenant movement: struggling against the 2023 double rent increase in Malmö
(2024) SGEM07 20241Department of Human Geography
- Abstract
- In 2023, seven major property owners in Malmö attempted to raise rents a second time, after annual rents for the city’s tenants had already been finalized. In doing so, landlords broke with historical precedent, by coordinating efforts to bypass the rent negotiation process with the powerful Swedish Union of Tenants (SUT). The Swedish rent negotiation model, a product of militant organizing by the SUT in the early 20th century, has faced growing threats from neoliberal policies over the past several decades. As a result, tenant protections have been slowly eroded, and power dynamics between the SUT and property owners gradually transformed. The 2023 double rent increase in Malmö exemplifies a new level of landlord aggression, reflecting... (More)
- In 2023, seven major property owners in Malmö attempted to raise rents a second time, after annual rents for the city’s tenants had already been finalized. In doing so, landlords broke with historical precedent, by coordinating efforts to bypass the rent negotiation process with the powerful Swedish Union of Tenants (SUT). The Swedish rent negotiation model, a product of militant organizing by the SUT in the early 20th century, has faced growing threats from neoliberal policies over the past several decades. As a result, tenant protections have been slowly eroded, and power dynamics between the SUT and property owners gradually transformed. The 2023 double rent increase in Malmö exemplifies a new level of landlord aggression, reflecting broader global trends towards the commodification of housing. In response to the double rent increase, a new wave of tenant organizing emerged in Malmö, led by activists who have been frustrated by the SUT’s inability to mobilize tenants at a grassroots level in recent decades. Most existing literature on tenant struggles in the Swedish context has focused on spontaneous or autonomous responses to renovictions—renovations undertaken to increase rents. Considering this, the goal of this thesis is to examine how the response to the 2023 double increase was characterized by tenants acting both autonomously and within the official structures of the SUT. By exploring the 2023 double rent increase in Malmö as a case study, the study sheds light on the shifting dynamics between tenants, the SUT, and landlords. I draw on media accounts, SUT materials, and qualitative interviews with tenant activists to assess how the SUT’s legalistic focus has limited its effectiveness. I frame the tenants’ double increase campaign as a pivotal shift towards repoliticizing the SUT, and the tenants movement in general. By examining the double increase campaign, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges and potentials for tenant movements in Sweden and beyond, advocating for a renewed focus on collective action and solidarity in the fight for housing justice. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9155783
- author
- Hussain, Khadija LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SGEM07 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9155783
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-03 08:04:34
- date last changed
- 2024-06-03 08:04:34
@misc{9155783,
abstract = {{In 2023, seven major property owners in Malmö attempted to raise rents a second time, after annual rents for the city’s tenants had already been finalized. In doing so, landlords broke with historical precedent, by coordinating efforts to bypass the rent negotiation process with the powerful Swedish Union of Tenants (SUT). The Swedish rent negotiation model, a product of militant organizing by the SUT in the early 20th century, has faced growing threats from neoliberal policies over the past several decades. As a result, tenant protections have been slowly eroded, and power dynamics between the SUT and property owners gradually transformed. The 2023 double rent increase in Malmö exemplifies a new level of landlord aggression, reflecting broader global trends towards the commodification of housing. In response to the double rent increase, a new wave of tenant organizing emerged in Malmö, led by activists who have been frustrated by the SUT’s inability to mobilize tenants at a grassroots level in recent decades. Most existing literature on tenant struggles in the Swedish context has focused on spontaneous or autonomous responses to renovictions—renovations undertaken to increase rents. Considering this, the goal of this thesis is to examine how the response to the 2023 double increase was characterized by tenants acting both autonomously and within the official structures of the SUT. By exploring the 2023 double rent increase in Malmö as a case study, the study sheds light on the shifting dynamics between tenants, the SUT, and landlords. I draw on media accounts, SUT materials, and qualitative interviews with tenant activists to assess how the SUT’s legalistic focus has limited its effectiveness. I frame the tenants’ double increase campaign as a pivotal shift towards repoliticizing the SUT, and the tenants movement in general. By examining the double increase campaign, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges and potentials for tenant movements in Sweden and beyond, advocating for a renewed focus on collective action and solidarity in the fight for housing justice.}},
author = {{Hussain, Khadija}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{(Re)politicizing the tenant movement: struggling against the 2023 double rent increase in Malmö}},
year = {{2024}},
}