Making a Scene: Urban Landscapes, Gentrification, and Social Movements in Sweden

by Kimberly A. Creasap

In the three largest cities in Sweden, social movement “scenes”—networks of social movement actors and the places they inhabit—challenge threats such as gentrification. The geography of the built environment influences their ability to lay claim to urban space and to local political processes. In Making a Scene , Kimberly Creasap emphasizes that it is the centrality, concentration, and visibility of these scenes that make them most effective. Whereas some scenes become embedded as part of everyday life—as in Malmö—in contrast, scenes in Göteborg and Stockholm often fail to become part of the fabric of urban neighborhoods. Creasap investigates key spaces for scenes, from abandoned industrial areas and punk clubs to street festivals, bookstores, and social centers, to show how activists create sites and develop structures of resistance that are anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-gentrification, queer, and feminist. She also charts the relationship between scenes and city spaces to show these autonomous social movements create their own cultural landscapes. Making a Scene encourages critical thinking about spatiality and place in the sociology of social movements and the role of social movements as important actors in urban development.

194 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2021

Reviews

[James Adair · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Mark Fishers lesser known essay, How To Kill A Zombie he discusses many of the failures of the modern anarchist movement. Reading this book felt once again like Fisher was vindicated, the tenacity and hope of the many people involved was admirable, but they’re fighting a losing battle, and many of them seem to know it.

[Simon Garneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweden, a country know for being a welfare state is populated with different activist groups and movements give birth to cultural and political scenes. The book “Making a Scene” by Kimberly A. Creasap, a sociologist who studied at the University of Pittsburgh, provides us with a quick and powerful understanding of the political climate in Sweden through the lens of autonomous movements. She transports us through the streets of Malmö, a city previously industrial, then later transformed by the government advertising it as a creative hub coupled with a new bridge and university, which resulted in the attraction of students from all over Sweden and brought with them the gentrification of the city. Stockholm being a bigger city finds itself with movements isolated from one another both spatially and temporarily causing temporary movements or “scenes''. Meanwhile in Goteborg, the EU summit initiates a divide between activists and the police as well as causing a change in how left-wing Swedish activists viewed political institutions and Democracy. Through the perspective of the “cultural centers” of Sweden, the political landscape of Sweden, and the idea of place as a way to cement activism in the future, Creasap defines the concept of a scene.
Malmö is an integral part of the book, it holds an important past, a vivid present filled with activism and autonomous groups, and a future of contingency. Throughout the book we see mentions of the different activist groups from this city, their main goal is to unite the neighborhoods and give a voice to their residents. Those groups locate themselves in centers or through projects, mainly; Utkanten a cultural central social center, Mollevang Group “an association formed by neighborhood residents,” (p.83), Stad Solidar “a political art project that is equal parts an interactive art installation and an act of civil disobedience and protest against the gentrification of Mollevangen,” (p.96) and Kontrapunkt, a place created in order to maintain the momentum created by projects in the past. Malmö serves as the centerpiece and is introduced first, due to the fact that the city was going through gentrification. Having been an industrial city in the past, the changes brought on by increased investments, drove people with lower income out of their own city. This is the main issue activist groups such as Utkanten, Kontrapunkt and Mollevang Group seek to address through projects such as “Stad Solidar” and the “Mollevang festival”. Creasap makes the argument that geographical areas are integral to the success, continuation and development of “scenes”, she supports this claim by comparing the activist movements in Malmö to Goteborg and Stockholm where there are less political spaces available or developped. Malmö’s political spaces are mainly located in Mollevangen. An important piece of political space history is the Folkets Park, a space where gatherings used to be held. Creasap highlights its importance as a space in the past throughout the book, in the very first pages she addresses “the social democratic history of the park” and how “evident” it was as she passed through the gates. This solidifies the past history of activism in the region right from the beginning indicating strong roots, it allows Creasap to establish the building blocks of her argument about activism and social space. The Folkets Park used to host gatherings and even though nowadays these gatherings are prohibited the scenes have shifted and they now take place all through Mollevagen taking on different forms, all of them possible through the history of protest immortalized in the Park by a pink rose fountain and concrete busts of Social Democratic leaders.
The strong roots of the past such as those in Malmo allows for social centers to establish themselves within a community. Without those roots and important social spaces the autonomous groups struggle to maintain this continuity and this can be observed in Stockholm. One activist interviewed by Creasap observes that “A lot of people are doing their own projects here and there, but I think if they were better connected and worked together, the overall presence of that scene would be a lot stronger” (p. 125). Creasap implies that the fragility of the scenes of Stockholm is due to the lack of “central places that facilitates routine interaction between people” (p.125), these central scenes are present in Malmo and they allow for consistent engagement as well as cooperation between different autonomous groups. One example of social places maintaining social momentum is Kontrapunkt. The social space serves as a place “where politics and culture could come together on a regular basis, activists felt as though the work they accomplished… would become embedded in the social and geographical landscape of Mollevangen for several years to come,” which unlike social movements in Stockholm allows for the growth of a less temporary activist movement.
Creasap gives the readers a brief introduction and roadmap to understanding the political relationships between government and activists. Sweden is known for being a welfare state and this allows for people to participate in activist movements, in the recent past however conditions have changed with the welfare being cut back, leading activists to realize that “one cannot trust that one is going to get anything because there isn’t anyone looking out for us. One must either struggle individually or go and stir up things collectively,” (p.45) this relationship to the authority of the welfare state is intensified with the riots of Goteborg. When Goteborg hosted the EU summit in 2001, riot police surrounded and closed off a school where activists had been given permission to use. This led to “240 activists… arrested on charges of “violent rioting”,” (p. 38). As a result of the violence and confrontation from the police Swedish activists adopted a new mindset towards the state with “57 percent reported that their belief in thee government decreased since the riots and 40 percent reported that they did not believe in political parties at all,” (p.41) Creasap makes the observation that this led groups to tackle questions around “privatization housing, public transportation”, as well as “questions related to urban space” this brief historic lessons facilitates the understanding of the real political relationship between activists and political parties at the time and nowadays.
Creasap keeps her readers engaged with her descriptions of places, analysis of scenes and personal interviews with members of groups. This brief passage below perfectly encapsulates these three points, through a brief generalization of the what the space looks like, “two shipping containers stacked on top of one another [forming] the sides of the building” (p.54) she allows the reader to imagine a space that “discouraged privacy, instead encouraging collaboration, collectivity, and sharing among participants”(p.55). She then goes on to use a personal anecdote from an activist of the lifestyle in the early days “I remember waking up groggy as hell [and] climbing down the ladder to brew cowboy coffee at the fire pit” (p.54) allowing readers to temporarily glimpse into the more personal aspect of the social center. Creasap then ends the paragraph observing that “the physical infrastructure of the building was designed to produce behaviors and norms informed by autonomous politics” (p.55), helping the readers acknowledge the important relationship between places and scenes. Throughout the book introductions such as the one made above, of the scenes in the three Swedish cities, helps the readers visualize the places where activism takes place, establishes empathy with the activists, and helps them to understand the real importance of an autonomous groups relationship with a central place.
Overall “Making a Scene” by Creasap is a well made analytical review of the activist scenes throughout the major cities of Sweden. It provides those reading it, with a great way to value place as a means of activism, a way to share cultural ideas, and to uphold the momentum needed for the continuation of social action. Although Creasap doesn’t make mention of activist movements outside of Sweden, she equips the reader with a general idea of what leads a group to be able to keep a movement going, which can be used to analyze movements in any cities. The context given, such as political and historical context within Sweden, was sufficient for readers to understand and to be aware of the importance of those movements, allowing the reader to depart from the description of Sweden through a stereotypical point of view. Creasap defined the concept of a scene, through the perspective of the “cultural centers” of Malmo, Goteborg and Stockholm, the political landscape of Sweden, through the past social movements and riots, and the idea of place as a way to cement activism in the future, allowing activists to maintain their much needed momentum.