Our finding that trade unions and client groups of the welfare state were particularly active in welfare protests aligns well with research on the retrenchment of the welfare state, which has shown that trade unions and client groups actively oppose cutbacks everywhere. In the Swedish case, we also know that these groups mobilised protests in the 1990s when, after the economic crisis, the government quickly adopted and implemented several welfare state reforms. Still, the mere talk of problems of the welfare state was enough to mobilise protests in the 1980s. Thus, our analysis shows that contention over the welfare state has a much longer history in Sweden than previous studies have acknowledged. Future research should examine how the experiences of the 1980s affected the tactics, claims and eventual outcomes of the mobilisation in the 1990s.

The third group that we hypothesised would mobilise in the 1980s comprised the proponents of neoliberal reforms, such as pro-business groups. This group mobilised few protest events during that decade; however, some of the protest actions that they did organise had a significant influence on Swedish politics. The Fourth of October demonstrations in 1983 were one of the biggest demonstrations organised in Sweden. This finding aligns with previous research on the rich people's movement: these groups seldom choose visible action, but when they do, they have the resources to organise significant and spectacular events.

Among the other groups that mobilised protests—these form about 17% of the welfare-state-related protests—political parties constituted the largest group. Until recently, party protests were given comparably little attention by researchers. However, our findings indicate that one way towards gaining an understanding of welfare state protests is to further analyse whether and how parties engage in contentious collective action.

#### References

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# Legitimizing and Enacting Contradictory Ideals: Squatting in Sweden in the 1980s

*Dominika V. Polanska*

# Squatting in Sweden

Previous research has shown that respectability1 and contentious and conflictual approaches have been present in the Swedish history of popular struggles.2 This chapter examines squatting in Sweden in the 1980s and analyzes how the ideals of respectability and confrontative repertoires of direct action were negotiated and communicated through specific types of interactions by the Swedish squatters during this decade. Departing from

1 Ronny Ambjörnsson, *Den skötsamme arbetaren* (Stockholm: Carlssons, 1988).

2 Mats Berglund, "Sweden 1740–1880: From Peasant Rebellion to Urban Riots—The Long Process of Democratization," in *Popular Struggle and Democracy in Scandinavia*, ed. Flemming Mikkelsen, Knut Kjeldstadli and Stefan Nyzell (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); Andrés Brink-Pinto and Martin Ericsson, eds., *Politik underifrån*  (Lund: Arkiv förlag, 2016); Abby Peterson, Håkan Thörn and Mathias Wahlström, "Sweden 1950–2015: Contentious Politics and Social Movements Between Confrontation and Conditioned Cooperation," in *Popular Struggle and Democracy in Scandinavia*, ed. Flemming Mikkelsen, Knut Kjeldstadli and Stefan Nyzell (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

55

D. V. Polanska (B)

School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2023

H. Hill and A. B. Pinto (eds.), *Social Movements in 1980s Sweden*, Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27370-4\_3

the approach to squatting as a political practice,3 a form of contentious repertoire, or a "set of performances available to any given actor within a regime",4 rather than a social movement, I intend to analyze how the squatters negotiated and legitimized their actions, and in relation to different opponents. Special attention is paid to the contradictions caused by different, and sometimes contradictory, ideals in the communication of the significance of squatting.

The history of urban squatting in Sweden started toward the end of the 1960s and followed a similar trajectory to other European countries where squatting was observed in the same period.5 During the 1980s, squatting in Europe was lively and advanced to considerable success, for example, in the creation of youth houses in Copenhagen (*Ungdomshuset*  1982), Oslo (*Blitz* 1982), and Zürich (*Jugendzentrum* 1981) and strong squatting movements in some cities in Germany and the Netherlands.6 The rise of squatting movements was met with attempts at criminalization, repression, and the growth of the extreme-right wing across Europe, not least in Sweden.7

3 Dominika V. Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State: Squatting in Sweden*  (New York: Routledge, 2019).

4 Charles Tilly, *The Politics of Collective Violence* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 45.

5 Anders Corr, *No Trespassing. Squatting, Rent Strikes and Land Struggles Worldwide*  (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999); Miguel A. Martínez López, *The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements* (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); Miguel A. Martínez López, *Squatters in the Capitalist City* (New York: Routledge, 2020); Squatting Europe Kollective, eds., *The Squatters' Movement in Europe: Commons and Autonomy as Alternatives to Capitalism* (London: Pluto Press, 2014); Bart van Der Steen, Ask Katzeff and Leendert van Hoogenhuijze, eds., *The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present* (Oakland: PM Press, 2014).

6 Mathias Wåg, "Från allaktivitetshus till sociala center," in *Ockuperat! Svenska husockupationer från 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019).

7 George Katsiaficas, "Preface," in *The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present*, ed. Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeff and Leendert van Hoogenhuijze (Oakland: PM Press, 2014); Martínez López, *The Urban Politics*, 8–10; Avanti Framåt, *Vårt 80-tal. Politisk kamp och punk i Stockholm 1985– 1989* (Stockholm: Stockholmia, 2017); Jämte, *Antirasismens många ansikten*; Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State.*

During the 1980s the occupation of buildings peaked in Sweden. It is therefore a period in the history of squatting ripe for further study.8 This decade was also qualitatively different from previous and following periods of squatting in Sweden due to what has been described by Pries and Zackari as more "militant" character of the actions undertaken in the following decade.9

Influences from squatting movements expanding in other European cities at the time: social movements, music, and literature, played an important part in the dissemination of direct-action repertoires and specific ideals among the Swedish squatters. Punk music, militant ideals of the BZ-movement in Copenhagen or the radicalizing squatting scene in Amsterdam or Hamburg, and the squatting symbol introduced by the Dutch *Kraakers*, were all adopted and played an important role in the formation of squatting in Sweden by this period.10 The growth of the punk scene, as described by Lundström in this volume, revitalized groups to the left and to the right.11 The connection of squats in different locations across Western Europe was facilitated by a network of independent book shops, "a kind of combined information office, counseling center and alternative bookstore, which opened in many occupied houses"12 and frequent visits. These connections have by social movement scholars been conceptualized in terms of translocal networks or translocal assemblages13 stressing social movements' spatiality and exchange of ideas, knowledge, and resources between sites.

#### 8 Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State.*

9 Johan Pries and Karin Zackari, "Här slutar Sverige. Ockupationen på Ringgatan i Malmö 1990," in *Politik underifrån*, eds. Andrés Brink-Pinto and Martin Ericsson (Lund: Arkiv förlag, 2016), 195.

10 Jan Jämte and Adrienne Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here? The Gradual Radicalization of the Anarchist Movement in Sweden 1980–90," in *A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s*, eds. Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 97–111; Grzegorz Piotrowski and Magnus Wennerhag, "Always Against the State? An Analysis of Polish and Swedish Radical Left-Libertarian Activists' Interaction with Institutionalized Politics," *Partecipazione e Conflitto* 8, no. 3 (2015): 845–875.

11 Jämte and Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here?" 3.

12 Wåg, "Från allaktivitetshus till sociala center," 36.

13 Colin McFarlane, "Translocal Assemblages: Space, Power and Social Movements," *Geoforum* 40, no. 4 (2009): 561–567.

Egefur discusses in this volume the ideals of respectability that emerged among the popular and working-class movements in Sweden in the early twentieth century.14 These ideals were also internalized by squatters in different degrees in Sweden from the 1960s until today.15 Respectability was expressed in a mentality that encouraged self-discipline, cultivation, rational arguments, peacefulness, and schooling (*bildning*) and in practice it could mean that squatters established strict rules and norms in the squatted spaces guiding behaviors, how the squatted spaces should be run, who should be granted access, who to cooperate/negotiate with, among other things.16 These ideals were put to the test when squatters encountered the authorities where negotiation was often dependent on the approach of the local authorities, ranging from permissive to repressive.

Based on materials produced by squatters and previous literature on the topic, this chapter explores the way that squatters described their objectives and actions, focusing on the tensions caused by contradicting ideals. The anarchist magazine *Brand*, which functioned as the main outlet for the autonomous movement in the country in the 1980s,17 and other movement-produced publications from this period are the primary material for this study. This includes texts written by squatters and published in national and local newspapers, books published by squatters about particular squats, along with pamphlets, folders, and flyers.18 The method used is a historical synthesis of previous studies and reports that is of interpretative character. It is a qualitative systematic review of all found forms of information on the topic of squatting in Sweden in the 1980s, using thematic analysis focusing on conflict lines where ideals are articulated. Since these conflicts are often identified in previous studies, but not analyzed and conceptualized in depth, the ambition is to contribute to the understanding of how ideas of peacefulness and orderliness can be

18 One possible shortcoming is that the texts published in *Brand* are not always written by the squatters themselves, but sometimes by supporters sharing perspectives with squatters. Another potential shortcoming is the observable bias in the material in the greater number of texts written by squatters taking part in occupations that have lasted longer or had a recurrent character.

combined with those of disobedience and skepticism to authorities and different forms of hierarchies in squatting during this period. The analysis poses new questions and re-interprets past findings.19

The chapter introduces the reader to the general topic of squatting in Sweden and then focuses on 1980s. In the review of previous studies and publications, ideals and the balancing of contradictory principles are in focus. It is argued that there are several arenas of interaction where squatters communicate their claims reflecting the questions: why, who, how, and what if, used to legitimize squatting and addressing the public, local authorities, local communities, local politicians, landlords/housing companies, and the police. It is when the squatters are explaining why they are squatting, who they are, how they organize, and what can happen in the encounter with power holders or the police, that different ideals are negotiated, communicated, and enacted.

### Squatting in the 1980s: Locations and Different Ideals

The ambition of this chapter is to cover the decade of the 1980s in a way more systematic than has hitherto been managed in research and to include squatting attempts outside of Stockholm and Gothenburg, thus painting a more nuanced picture of how squatting developed, and which ideals guided squatters during this period.

Three clear peaks in squatting attempts occurred during the 1980s.20 The first came in 1982 in Jönköping (recurring attempts), Västerås (recurring attempts), Gothenburg, Malmö, Rimbo, Stockholm, and Umeå.21 The second and third peak came in 1986 and 1988 mainly in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Only open and officially announced occupations, organized collectively, are included in Fig. 3.1 and Table 3.1. Hidden

19 The use of analyzed data creates both opportunities and problems and has been focused on (1) recontextualization of the squatting cases studied, and on (2) a systematic approach to analyzing and re-interpreting data including specific codes (ideals, conflicts, cooperation, antagonists, etc.) and points of comparison between the included events and above all how they have been described by the squatters.

21 See Table 2.

20 See Table 1.

**Fig. 3.1** Squatting waves based on the number of squatting events in Sweden 1980–1989 (*Source* Author's calculations24)

occupations22 are not included due to the difficulties in tracing them. Gothenburg and Stockholm were the epicenters of squatting during the 1980s. The significant difference between them was the durability of the squats. In Stockholm, a squat at *Skaraborgsgatan* lasted three months at most, whereas occupations in Gothenburg lasted for years, such as *Kvarteret Sabeln* that lasted almost two years.

### The Struggle for Self-Managed Social and Cultural Spaces

The Swedish cities of Helsingborg, Hässleholm, Jönköping, Malmö, Landskrona, Lund, Ronneby, Sollefteå, Umeå, Uppsala, and Västerås also experienced squatting in the 1980s.23 In Jönköping, a fire station was

22 Ann Ighe, "Husen" i bestämd form pluralis," in *Ockuperat! svenska husockupationer 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019), 126; Ann Ighe, "Empty Space, Open Space. Claiming, Reaching and Remembering Common Ground in Urban Squats. Haga in the 1980's," *Partecipazione e Conflitto*  13, no. 3 (2020): 1382.

23 See Table 3.1.

**Table 3.1** Squatting in Sweden in the 1980s, locations and year

(continued)

24 Calculations are based on an analysis of previous research, movementproduced publications, media coverage, and information from activists and researchers interested in the topic (see Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State* for further details).

**Table 3.1** (continued)

\*If the same address has been recurrently occupied the number of attempts is stated in parenthesis

occupied several times in 1982.25 Ericsson's study portrays a conflict between squatters and local politicians, where the politicians demanded the squatters formalize their activity in an association in order to be treated as respectable and legitimate counterparts.26 The recurrent squatting attempts and demands of the activists in Jönköping for a selfmanaged space for social and cultural activities resulted in the opening of a cultural space in the city run by local organizations and some representatives of the municipality in 1983. In a publication made by the squatters in 1982, the process was described chronologically, informing readers about the drug-free policy at the fire station and the negotiations, and conflicts (sometimes violent), between the activists and the city representatives and the police that were played out during this period.27 Lodalen, who took part in the mobilization for a self-managed space, describes the activity:

The summer continued in the same energetic and tireless style. With attentions, new occupations of the fire station, City Hall and the occasional illegal intrusion into pinball and bingo halls. But we also had more quiet activities. We wrote music, printed newspapers and T-shirts, started theater groups that played in the streets and squares, and we performed a twelve-hour support concert…28

25 Ragnar Järhult, *Elden är lös- kampen om Brandstationen Jönköping 1982* (Jönköping: Förlaget Initiativ, 1982); Mian Lodalen, "Elden var lös," in *Ockuperat! Svenska husockupationer från 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019).

26 Martin Ericsson, "Ockuperat område. Striden om brandstationen i Jönköping 1982," in *Politik underifrån*, eds. Andrés Brink-Pinto and Martin Ericsson (Lund: Arkiv förlag, 2016), 179.

27 Järhult, *Elden är lös.*

28 Lodalen, "Elden var lös," 102.

Both confrontative repertoires, including direct-action activities and cultural and more conventional political activities like demonstrations, signature collections, distribution of flyers, arranging cultural activities, or reaching out to media, were included in the repertoire of the local activists. Ericsson argues that this case of squatting should be conceptualized as translocal and transnational,29 referring to Thörn30 and international studies of squatting during the same period and to the Jönköping activists' use of symbols, demands, and references to the squatting scenes in the rest of Europe. Squatting in Jönköping was characterized by the ideals of non-violence and passive resistance in the meetings with the police, and the explicit statement that the police were not considered an enemy, as opposed to local politicians.31 Negotiations with the municipality resulted in offers of alternative spaces, which in turn caused internal conflicts of whether to accept or decline the offer resulting in "disarming the more radical demands for direct democracy and self-management" among the activists.32

The demands for spaces where the activists could play music in Malmö and Lund are addressed by Håkansson and Lundin.33 The story here was similar to that in Jönköping: squatting and youth riots in the city centers forced local politicians to consider the need for cultural spaces in both cities leading to the establishment of institutionally run cultural spaces. Similarly, in Landskrona in 1983, a school that was to be demolished was occupied and demands for self-managed cultural spaces were made, and in Västerås, local politicians and the public housing company negotiated with the activists who squatted a building several times with the banner "Live music for a living house".34

29 Ericsson, "Ockuperat område".

30 Håkan Thörn, *Stad i rörelse: stadsomvandlingen och striderna om Haga och Christiania* (Stockholm: Atlas Akademi, 2013).

31 Järhult, *Elden är lös*, 79*.*

32 Ericsson, "Ockuperat område," 184.

33 Peter Håkansson and Johan Lundin, "Rock för ett hus," in *Populärmusik, uppror och samhälle*, eds. Lars Berggren, Mats Greiff and Björn Horgby (Malmö: Malmö högskola, 2009).

34 VLT, 12 October 2012; Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg, *Ockuperat! Svenska husockupationer från 1968–2018* (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019), 107.

Nilsson has analyzed the squatting event in Landskrona with the focus on the respectability of the actors involved.35 The author argues that an "identity-political drama" was staged and that the activists, similar to those in Jönköping, initially used traditional methods (demonstration, meetings, and the collection of signatures) emphasizing their objectivity, orderliness and the group being "unspoiled by popular culture".36 They pleaded with the local politicians to turn the school building into a space with a "café homework corner, women's shelter and rehearsal studios for orchestras".37 The responsible character of the activists was articulated in the demands for homework activity and the choice of wording to call rehearsal spaces for rock and punk bands "rehearsal studios for orchestras". When these efforts failed, the activists squatted the building and presented their attempt as drug-free and aiming to promote activity among the passive youth. Similar once again to Jönköping, in Landskrona the activists explained in a statement on 12 July 1982, "For ten years we have done what we could, with the help of public opinion, to change the attitude of politicians".38 Even in Jönköping the activists claimed in a manifesto that their "Culture house" could achieve social cohesion between different social groups in the city, equality, activation of the unemployed, and drug addicts to find social community.39

Uppsala's squatting history is reminiscent of that in Jönköping and Landskrona, except that squatting events here were also strategically used to protest the expulsion of school pupils. Squatting in the city started in 1979, flourished in the 1980s, and declined in the 1990s, to return in the 2000s. Spross' study covers four squatting events between 1979 and 1989, demanding the municipality provide housing and cultural spaces and protesting the expulsion of school pupils (from elementary schools).40 These events were non-violent, and their purpose was to make

40 Linn Spross, "Att ta plats i politiken," in *Ockuperat! Svenska husockupationer från 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019).

35 Fredrik Nilsson, "Skötsamma punkare och kommunalpampar – iscensättningen av ett identitetskritiskt drama," in *Mycket mer än bara rock*, eds. Peter Håkansson, Johan A. Lundin and Jonas Bjälesjö (Stockholm: Premiss förlag, 2010).

local politicians react to the housing shortage, the need for spaces for cultural activities and solidarity with immigrant families. Even Umeå's squatting history in the 1980s revolved around issues of cultural spaces and to lesser extent housing issues.41 The first attempt followed an occupation of a local green area at the end of the 1970s and was described by Persson as a balance between militant and popular (*folkliga*) ideals. During the 1980s Umeå was, like Stockholm, experiencing urban renewal and the demolition of its central districts to give way to offices, parking spaces, and housing. The squatters were partly protesting the demolition but the main driving factor, according to Persson, was to create free spaces for punks and the subcultural youth that were to be run according to direct democratic principles and open to "punks, the new left and other alternative groups".42 The space was open to others, such as drug addicts and vulnerable groups "as long as alcohol and drugs are not used in the premises",43 a statement expressing ideals of respectability. The occupation ended after three months when the negotiations with the municipality were concluded and the squatters were offered another space. In 1983, the local feminist movement organized a symbolic separatist weekend occupation of a building, *Gula villan*, which lasted longer than initially planned. On a flyer to the public the activists explained:

The Women's House Association in Umeå has for several years worked to get a house, collected names, written petitions, courted politicians in municipalities and county councils.44

The event caused a media debate focusing on the morality and illegality of squatting. The flyer ended with the statement "It is not immoral to occupy - It is immoral to demolish the beautiful house and garden - It is immoral that the Women's House Association does not get

41 Kerstin Norlander and Kristina Larsson, *Kvinnohus nu! Dagbok från Kvinnohusockupationen i Umeå 1983* (Umeå: H:ström, 2017); Erik Persson, "Bland skogsdungar, gula villor och allhus i Umeå 1972–1990," in *Ockuperat! Svenska husockupationer från 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika V. Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal förlag, 2019).

42 Persson, "Bland skogsdungar," 168.

43 Persson, "Bland skogsdungar," 168.

44 Norlander and Larsson, *Kvinnohus nu!*, 203.

premises".45 The squat was evicted after 10 months by police from outside of the city, as local police refused to intervene. It was replaced by an "institutionalized" version that is still in operation today.

### Calmness and Openness in Negotiations

The extent of non-militancy of squatters in the district of Haga in Gothenburg was mixed according to Thörn46 and influenced from outside of the city and from abroad. In this case, Freetown Christiania (founded in 1971 in Denmark) was an important connection along with the squat of *Mullvaden* (in Stockholm in 1977–1978). In the 1970s and 80s, Christiania and Haga were hubs for social movements, alternative culture, and music movements. Haga was a working-class residential district in central Gothenburg set for demolition, where the activists had found cheap or free meeting spaces. Activists' claims included criticism of the planned demolition and their actions contributed to the preservation of the area, but they were unable to prevent gentrification later on, Thörn argues.47 The movement active in the area was divided in the 1970s between those who wanted to carry out direct actions and those who worked with "opinion formation, mobilization and dialogue".48

Over time the squatters in Haga encountered changing attitudes from the local established societal institutions, shifting from negative to positive between the 1970s and 80s and inviting squatters to the "conversation table of the Swedish consensus culture".49 Attitudes shifted again in the 1990s to more repressive tactics. Thörn claims that squatters in Haga did not take part in violent clashes with the police, partly due to their order and calmness and partly due to the national tactic to heavily repress squatting initiated later in 1990.50

45 Norlander and Larsson, *Kvinnohus nu!*, 203.

46 Håkan Thörn, "In Between Social Engineering and Gentrification: Urban Restructuring, Social Movements and the Place Politics of Open Space," *Journal of Urban Affairs*  34, no. 2 (2012): 153–168; Thörn, *Stad i rörelse.*

47 Thörn, "In Between Social…".

48 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*, 14.

49 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*, 13.

50 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*, 349.

Ighe described the purpose of following occupations in Haga as claiming spaces for social and cultural activities and demanding preservation of the area.51 The mix of ideas coming from alternative movements (anarchist and libertarian, punk music movements) and the critique of demolitions was quite common during this period and could also be observed in other cities, such as Landskrona, Stockholm, Örebro,52 or Helsingborg.

The squatters in Gothenburg were by this time referred to as *Husnallarna*, a name that also reflected plans to throw teddy bears at the police instead of fighting and was a word play including words "House"(Hus) and "snatchers"/"bears"(nallarna), and Ighe compared this "silly" name to the more militant Dutch Kraakers or Danish BZ.53 Thörn remarked on the ambiguity and humorous character of the name Husnallarna that the third generation of squatters took on in the city.54 The ambiguity demonstrated contradictory statements, from the inspiration coming from the BZ movement in Copenhagen and, at the same time, a will to distance themselves from the violent clashes with the police that the Danish squatters were known for (Picture 3.1).55

### Between Well-Behaved Working Class and Anti-elitism

Husnallarna were recognized by the local politicians as a counterpart and the squatters took part in debates with politicians and in public discussions on housing policy. Ighe described how the squatters started a renovation fund of sorts, through monthly fees, and the necessity for electricity contracts, telephone subscriptions, and home insurance for the occupied apartments.56 In one of the squatted buildings, the squatters tried to buy the building from the owner and formed a cooperative to gain control and be able to stay in the building. The history of squatting in Haga

51 Ighe, "Husen" i bestämd form pluralis," 129–130.

**Picture 3.1** Haga at the end of the 1980s. The poster says "We will not move, of course" (*Photo* Salka Sandén)

ended in 1990 when *Tullen* was occupied in protest of its planned demolition. The squatters evacuated the building without the involvement of the police (Picture 3.2).

The ideals that punk brought on, anti-elitism and the critique of the principles guiding the working-class, encountered ideals of legitimate political/parliamentary or associational work to achieve change. Martins Holmberg has described a contested picture of ideals among the activists in Haga, where one group represented what the author called "the parliamentary way", while another, inspired by the squatters in Christiania, wanted to occupy and refused to move.57

Despite internal contestations, the peaceful and non-violent ideals were strong among the squatters in Gothenburg in the 1980s, strengthened by the permissive approach of the local authorities. Non-violence was practiced in passive resistance strategies and peaceful sit-ins. Also, the local police seemed to have shared the same ideal, condemning more violent

57 Ingrid Martins Holmberg, *På stadens yta: Om historiseringen av Haga* (Göteborg: Makadam förlag, 2006), 301–302.

**Picture 3.2** Demolition in Haga in the 1980s (*Photo* Salka Sandén)

police actions in other cities.58 It was in the 1990s that a more violent tactic came to be used and, among others, culminated in violent clashes in 2001, during an EU summit in the city.59

### Escalating Violence by the Mid-1980s

The history of squatting in Stockholm in the 1980s is best described in the material produced by the activists.60 There is a clear link between squatting in Swedish cities by that time and the squatting scenes of other European cities. By the end of the 1970s, three important squats had opened in Stockholm, *Mullvaden*, *Oasen*, and *Järnet*, and these were classified by Polanska and Wåg as part of an international wave of squatting that peaked in 1980–1981 with youth houses in Copenhagen, Zürich, and Oslo and flourishing squatting movements in Berlin

58 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*, 357.

59 Mattias Wahlström, "Forestalling Violence: Police Knowledge of Interaction with Political Activists," *Mobilization: An International Quarterly* 12, no. 4 (2007): 389–402.

60 See for instance Avanti Framåt, *Vårt 80-tal* or texts published in *Brand.*

and Amsterdam.61 Swedish squatting in 1985–1986 was according to the authors clearly influenced by anarchism and autonomous ideas, inspired by the Danish BZ-movement, and squatting in Hamburg, Berlin, and Amsterdam.62 and the issues of fighting racism, neo-Nazism, and fascism were guiding the squatters.63

In Stockholm, the case of *Oasen* was especially influenced by the punk music movement spreading throughout the rest of Europe at the time.64 Also, the squatting of *Ultrahuset* in 1988 demanded self-managed spaces for music activities with a special connection to punk.65 Stockholm's squatting scene flourished again by 1985–1986 after a break of several years, but the durability of squatting by this time varied locally.66

The repression of squatting in Stockholm intensified from 1986. The more numerous the attempts, the quicker the evacuations became. In 1986, at Luntmakargatan, the encounter with the police was prepared for by the squatters in collecting "egg cartons, one-penny rattlesnakes and balloons filled with water on the windowsills".67 Even in this case the combination of varying ideals was clear, through the use of playful and rather harmless, more symbolic, "weapons". The squatters were surprised by the use of teargas by police to make them leave the building despite their self-proclaimed decency and obedience:

Is it really us they are going to shoot at? About 30 decent young people between the ages of 15 and 20 and a middle-aged photographer who obediently pays his rent. Then it suddenly breaks loose. There is banging and bashing, windows are crashing and people are screaming.68

61 Polanska and Wåg, *Ockuperat!*

62 Ibid., 24.

63 Jan Jämte, *Antirasismens många ansikten* (Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2013), 244.

64 Wåg, "Från allaktivitetshus till sociala center," 35.

65 Polanska and Wåg, *Ockuperat!*, 175–185; Michael Forsman, "Ultrahuset - presentation av ett hotat alternativ," in *Rum och rörelser*, eds. Johan Fornäs and Michael Forsman (Stockholm: Byggforskningsrådet, 1989).

66*Brand* 1988.

67 Mikael Wahlberg, "Motstånd på Luntmakargatan," in *Vårt 80-tal: Politisk kamp och punk i Stockholm 1985–1989*, ed. Avanti Framåt (Stockholm: Stockholmia, 2017), 70.

68 Wahlberg, "Motstånd på Luntmakargatan," 78.

The squatters were surprised by the level of violence displayed towards them by the police in light of their actions, stressing their obedience in other fields of life and their age and decency. The use of teargas seemed disproportionate to them, expecting a negotiation with the authorities first. The end of the decade was even more dramatic with the eviction of *Borgen* in Malmö in 1990 (Picture 3.3).

The squat of Borgen lasted six months and was followed by a decline in squatting attempts in the country due to more heavy-handed repression, nationally and internationally. It was evicted in a more violent, and military, way functioning as a scare tactic (borrowed from Denmark) to discourage squatting. The violent eviction of a squat on Folkungagatan in Stockholm in the same year has also been pointed out by Thörn as a clear shift in the police methods used to repress squatting in the country.69 The squat of Borgen was well connected to the squatting scene in Copenhagen, but the local context was also characterized by the non-violent repertoire of local anarchists, further calmed by the presence of a legal meeting space that satisfied the needs of the group.70

### Negotiating and Communicating Ideals Through Repertoires of Contention

In the following I shall focus on the *arenas of interactions*, or fields where contentious actors interact within their own group or movement, with authorities or police forces, that squatters have used to communicate on the significance of their action and, in particular, to which public they have directed their claims.71 The arenas distinguished here reflect the questions: *why, who, how*, and *what if* and are used to legitimize squatting and are directed to the general public, local authorities, local communities, local politicians, landlords/housing companies, and the police. It is when the squatters are explaining why they are squatting, an unauthorized action, that legitimization of the action is balanced with arguments

69 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*, 349. See also Peterson, Thörn and Wahlström, "Sweden 1950– 2015".

70 Pries and Zackari, "Här slutar Sverige," 195.

71 Eitan Y. Alimi, "Repertoires of Contention," *The Oxford Handbook of Social Movements* 410 (2015): 10-1093; Brian Doherty and Graeme Hayes, "Tactics and Strategic Action," in *The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements*, ed. David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, Hanspeter Kriesi and Holly J. McCammon (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2018).

**Picture 3.3** The roof of Borgen 1990 (*Photo* Salka Sandén)

on the locally based need of social and cultural spaces and the bureaucratic procedure resulting in failure that has preceded the squatting action. The development of a new repertoire, squatting, needs an explanation. The other arena of interaction is activated when squatters are describing themselves to the outside world emphasizing that squatted spaces are run according to a set of principles, in this way justifying their existence. Lastly, the possibility of an encounter with politicians, housing companies, or the police is anticipated and dealt with by the squatters developing routinized tactics72 to avoid violence and facilitate negotiation.

It has been common among squatters to claim that squatting is legitimate and reasonable when the activists have followed all the formal rules available. There are several examples where squatters have formed associations and used conventional repertoires to influence public opinion on the issue and put pressure on local politicians. Among these examples we have Jönköping, Landskrona,73 *Kulturmejeriet* in Lund and *Gula villan*  in Umeå where the activists formed associations to claim spaces for their activities.

The conventional repertoires among squatters in this period have included: demonstrations, signature collections, distribution of flyers to the public, arrangement of cultural activities, presence at city council meetings, or reaching out to the media. To follow "the parliamentary way" of doing politics was one of the strong ideals, or a sort of strategy (see Egefur's Chapter 5), found among the squatting activists, side by side with the more confrontative repertoire of direct action by appropriating spaces without authorization. The repertoires of direct action were disseminated through punk music and anarchism prevalent among the social movements in this period,74 as shown by Lundström in this volume, and direct (through visits) and indirect contacts (through media) with squatting movements abroad.

Several examples have been mentioned in this chapter illustrating the orderliness, respectability, and peacefulness of the squatters in Swedish cities. One such example is the name Husnallarna and the multiple other ways squatters communicated their peaceful character to the outside world. Many squatters declared the action as improving the situation for vulnerable groups: youths, unemployed or drug addicts, by helping these groups find meaningful activities or become drug-free. According to, for instance, the activists in Jönköping their work "begins to yield results. Our cries for a drug-free and more vibrant Jönköping have now even

72 Charles Tilly, *From Mobilization to Revolution* (New York: Addison-Wesley, 1978).

73 Nilsson, "Skötsamma punkare," 133.

74 Jämte and Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here?"; Piotrowski and Wennerhag, "Always Against the State?"

penetrated the politicians' wax plugs".75 The peacefulness of the squatters was often reiterated, either in descriptions of the squatters being inexperienced, afraid, or young, or in their surprise over the violent response of the police to squatting.

The willingness to talk to politicians and negotiate a solution has also been common and used to express the readiness to compromise. Several of the actions covered here show that the squatters worked to disprove the misheld assumption that they wanted spaces for free by paying electricity bills, rent, or taking out insurance policies. In Örebro, for instance, the squatters offered to pay rent for the six days they squatted the building after they were evicted.76

Most of the squatted spaces in the 1980s were organized according to the principles of drug-free spaces where everybody contributes according to their ability. Other principles that were connected to the selfmanagement of such spaces were tolerance and prohibition of racism, sexism, and homophobia, among other things. These principles were not always explicit, compared to the rules that prohibited the consumption of alcohol and drugs on the premises.

In Jönköping, the activists claimed that their work could result in the uniting and disciplining of various youth groups in the city through "constructive actions and the belief in the future".77 The squatters in Jönköping distanced themselves from the "senseless violence" of other youths78 stressing their non-violent character and struggle for the unification of youth groups in the city. The politicians were warned about the severe social consequences that would follow if the activities at the squat could not continue. The activists argued that if the municipality could provide spaces for the youth to use, they could break the "passivity and drug-addiction" among their participants.79 A common slogan among community organizers was claiming that meaningful activities and the sense of community created responsible individuals and community members. The distancing from violence and the prohibition of alcohol and drugs that might destroy the orderliness and respectability of the

75 Järhult, *Elden är lös*, 53. 76*Hem & Hyra*, 17 August 2020. 77 Järhult, *Elden är lös*, 62. 78 Ibid., 62*.*  79 Ibid., 63.

participants were used as tools to demonstrate the readiness and maturity of the youths claiming the right to run self-managed spaces. Their claims demonstrated an ability to import arguments from social work and civil society organizations, used to convince the authorities and a wider audience.

The likelihood of an encounter with the politicians, housing companies, or the police was anticipated and handled by the squatters developing tactics to avoid violence and facilitate negotiation. Even if these tactics were contested among the community of squatters, the willingness to negotiate and not stage violent confrontations was prevalent during this period. Clear tactics of meeting with the police were developed and passive and non-violent resistance was encouraged in the encounters with police and in case of eviction. The squats could be barricaded or open, but in case of the police entering the building, the squatters were guided by passive resistance when meeting with the police officers face to face. Some resistance was still staged, however, but most often using playful and harmless objects thrown at the police (teddy bears, water balloons, water, or eggs) along with blocked entrances to the building. When the squatters of *Kvarteret Sabeln* staged a traffic blockade outside of the squat, and the police arrived, the situation was described by one of the participants:

If we were to leave the house, the exit would be grand; the fireworks, the headlights and the Fate Symphony at full volume made the police appear small and less dangerous. When the street was empty, we waited for the police to start with us.80

Music and fireworks were meant to subdue the police and render them less dangerous. By the end of the 1980s, this repertoire was changing, bricks were thrown at the police and the squatters started to use masks to cover their faces.81 This repertoire developed in parallel to the escalation in violence by the police during this period,82 to a larger extent using tear gas, beatings, and riot gear when evicting squatters by the late 1980s.

There are several cases where squatters evicted themselves or moved voluntarily (Haga, for example), having reached an agreement or a point

80*TotalBrand* 1988/17.

81 Avanti Framåt, *Vårt 80-tal*, 157 & 184.

82 Peterson, Thörn and Wahlström, "Sweden 1950–2015".

where their message has been heard by the local planners or other stakeholders. During this period some symbolic occupations of buildings have also been staged by activists wanting to make a political statement, but at the same time avoiding the possibility of violent encounters, by dropping a banner on the building and leaving.83 Even if most squatters collectively agreed on passive resistance, encounters with the police were always risky as individual activists could ignore the established rules, resulting in violence causing damage to the reputation of the squatters.

#### Conclusions

In the history of squatting in Sweden, the period of the 1980s is a fascinating time when various influences and ideals were combined in squatting actions. While squatters in Sweden were inspired by the squatting movements growing in other European cities, they were developing a contentious repertoire84 where they deliberately avoided violence and often described themselves as peaceful and orderly. During the 1980s there is a great diversity in how the ideals of peacefulness, respectability, non-violence, popular (*folkliga*) issues, militancy, resistance, anti-authoritarianism, anti-elitism, were negotiated, enacted, and communicated by squatters to the outside world.

Even if squatting in this period could be conceptualized as translocal and transnational,85 it also had traditional expressions originating from peaceful negotiation, inherited from the labor movement and the repertoires developed by the Swedish popular movements in the democratization of the country in the twentieth century. By combining action repertoires previously developed by social movements and civil society with direct-action repertoires, squatters in Sweden in the 1980s developed a specific form of contentious repertoire through arenas of interaction focusing on avoiding violence and facilitating negotiation.

**Acknowledgements** I would like to thank Salka Sandén for generously sharing the photographs she took in the 1980s and Jonathan Robson for improving

84 Tilly, *From Mobilization to Revolution*; Tilly, *The Politics.*

85 McFarlane, "Translocal assemblages"; Ericsson, "Ockuperat område"; Thörn, *Stad i rörelse*.

83 For instance, *Centralhotellet* in Stockholm 1987, see more in Avanti Framåt, *Vårt 80-tal*, 183.

my language in this chapter. Special thanks to the editors and contributors to this volume who have been involved in commenting on previous versions of this chapter, providing new insights into the conceptualization of squatting in Sweden in the 1980s.

#### References

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# When Anarchism Met Punk

## *Markus Lundström*

Anarchism in Sweden had been around for nearly a century when the turbulent 1980s arrived. As shown throughout this anthology, the decade was marked by social marginalization, political tension, and cultural exploration. It was a hotbed for social movements, a breeding ground for new forms of activism, perennial growth of recurring contention—and regeneration of politics buried in the social soil, like pyrophile plants sprouting through a wildfire. When anarchism met punk in the Swedish 1980s, certain repertoires of contention became revived and enacted, exhibiting how remembered actions from the *past* can give life to collective action in the *present* and revive the struggle for a desirable *future*. In the vein of social movement literature concerned with the interplay between cultural

M. Lundström (B)

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2023 H. Hill and A. B. Pinto (eds.), *Social Movements in 1980s Sweden*, Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27370-4\_4

81

and political mobilizations,1 this chapter outlines how anarchist *repertoires of contention*, as "inherited forms of collective action",2 became regenerated in Sweden when anarchism met punk.

#### When Anarchism Met Punk

Anarchism in Sweden grew out of the Social Democrats' youth organization that, in May 1898, began publishing its own periodical. The name *Brand* underlined its cultural sensibility by paraphrasing a play by Henrik Ibsen.3 *Brand* has been published regularly ever since and is thereby one of the most long-standing anarchist periodicals in the world.4 The early anarchist movement was more numerous in Sweden than in the other Nordic countries,5 and prominent figures like Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin, and Rudolf Rocker visited and were part of their international network.6 *Brand* frequently published translations of international anarchist thinkers, and these inclinations alarmed and finally prompted

1 See for instance Ron Eyerman and Andrew Jamison, *Music and Social Movements: Mobilizing Traditions in the Twentieth Century* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Ryan Moore and Michael Roberts, "Do-It-Yourself Mobilization: Punk and Social Movements," *Mobilization: An International Quarterly* 14, no. 3 (2009); William Danaher, "Music and Social Movements," *Sociology Compass* 4, no. 9 (2010).

2 Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow, *Contentious Politics* (Boulder: Paradigm, 2015), 7.

3 Henrik Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga: Anarkistiska tankelinjer hos Hinke Bergegren, Gustaf Henriksson-Holmberg och Einar Håkansson* (Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2007), 236; Emma Hilborn, *Världar i Brand: Fiktion, politik och romantik i det tidiga 1900 talets ungsocialistiska press* (Höör: Agering, 2014), 37; Karl Fernström, *Ungsocialismen: En krönika* (Stockholm: Federativ, 1950), 40–42.

4 Internationally, only a handful of anarchist periodicals have been published since the heyday of anarchism until the present day: *Solidaridad Obrera* in Spain, *La Protesta* in Argentina, *Umanità Nova* in Italy, and *Freedom* in the UK. For studies on the latter, see Rob Ray, *A Beautiful Idea: History of the Freedom Press Anarchists* (London: Freedom Press, 2018); John Quail, *Slow Burning Fuse: The Lost History of the British Anarchists*  (Oakland: PM Press, 2019).

5 Gabriel Kuhn, "The Nordic Countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden," in *The Bloomsbury Companion to Anarchism*, ed. Ruth Kinna (Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2012), 442.

6*Arbetaren*, "Den ryska revolutionen belyses av ryska revolutionärer: Fackföreningsrörelsen och syndikalismen och dess framtida problem," January 7, 1922: 1, 3; Fernström, *Ungsocialismen*, 336–338, 435, 456, 474; Markus Lundström, "Demokrati eller anarki?" *Demokrati100* (2019). www.demokrati100.se/demokrati-eller-anarki/.

the Social Democrats to break with its youth organization in 1908.7 Subsequently, in the aftermath of the Swedish general strike in 1909, the anarcho-syndicalist branch of the labour movement created its own union.8 Whereas workplace struggles were naturally the prime focus of this syndicalist union,9 *Brand* now became more explicitly anarchist.10 In 1934, with the birth of Sweden's first anarchist organization,11 *Brand*  accordingly changed its subtitle to become an "anarchist paper" that complemented and struggled "alongside" syndicalism.12

In the 1980s, however, the anarchist periodical went through a series of editorial shifts and relaunches. *Brand* closed down in 1979, after having published nearly 1700 issues since its inauguration in 1898,13 and continued under the name *Basta* for two issues (1980). It was then reinstalled as *Brand* (1982), *Brandfaran* (1983–1984), *Brand* once again (1985), and then merged with a local anarcho-zine named *Total* and became published under the name *Total Brand* (1986–1988). The title

7 Åsa Linderborg, *Socialdemokraterna skriver historia: Historieskrivning som ideologisk maktresurs 1892–2000* (Stockholm: Atlas, 2014), 113–116, 171–173; Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga*, 122–123; Hilborn, *Världar i Brand*, 69.

8 The Swedish Workers Central Organization [*Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation*] has maintained its political voice in Swedish society up to the present, first though the periodical *Syndikalisten* (1911–1921) and then its sequel The Labourer [*Arbetaren*] (1922–). See Maria Karlsson and Rikard Warlenius, "Ett sekel av syndikalism: Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation 1910–2010," in *Ett sekel av syndikalism: Sveriges arbetares centralorganisation 1910–2010*, ed. SAC (Stockholm: Federativ, 2012); Lennart Persson, "Syndikalisten: SAC:s tidning 1911–1921," in *Ett sekel av syndikalism: Sveriges arbetares centralorganisation 1910–2010*, ed. SAC (Stockholm: Federativ, 2012); Johan Pries, "PJ Welinder and "American Syndicalism" in Interwar Sweden," in *Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW* , eds. Peter Cole, David Struthers, and Kenyon Zimmer (London: Pluto Press, 2018), 262; Kuhn, "The Nordic Countries," 445.

9 Lennart Persson, *Syndikalismen i Sverige: 1903–1922* (Göteborg: Göteborgs offsettryckeri, 1975), 154–155, 232–234; Martin Nilsson, "Hundraåringen behöver mer idédebatt!: Anarkism och syndikalism i rörelsen," in *Ett sekel av syndikalism: Sveriges arbetares centralorganisation 1910–2010*, ed. SAC (Stockholm: Federativ, 2012); Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga*, 8.

10 Gabriel Kuhn, "Anarchism, Sweden," in *The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest* (Wiley Online Library: Wiley, 2009).

11 Fernström, *Ungsocialismen*, 479–450.

12*Brand* no. 1, "Vi vilja: Ingen herre, ingen slav!" (1934): 1.

13 Brand also had a significant publishing break between 1967 and 1972, but the reasons and implications of this intermission fall outside the scope of this chapter.

eventually changed back to *Brand* (1988–) and is at the time of writing still being published under that name.

The durability of *Brand*, as the main vehicle for anarchism in Sweden, makes it a most viable historical source.14 As I will show, *Brand*'s editorial turbulence in the 1980s reflects anarchism's reorientation towards certain repertoires of contention during this decade. But whereas the broader autonomous movement had grown militant in other European countries already in the early 1980s,15 anarchism in Sweden took this route later into the decade. Previous research has pointed out the relatively stable economic situation in Sweden, the predominance of social-democratic consensus ideals of democratic dialogue, cooperation, and formal organizing, and the anarchist movement's dedication to non-violence and alternative living, as possible explanations for this comparable delay in militancy.16 Here scholars have noted, though only in passing, that anarchist repertoires of contention were revivified by the politicized branches of the punk scene.17

Punk came to Sweden in the spring of 1977. The ignition was a one-day festival lined up with Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, and

14 The will to cultivate the *Brand*-tradition can be noted for instance in the republications of early history entries, continued aesthetic, and reusage of the recurrent brief-report section "Gnistor" [*Sparks* ]. However, two other possible candidates to study Swedish anarchism in the 1980s would be the periodical *Praxis* (1980–1982) and *April* (1982–1987), but these had a more anarcho-syndicalist focus on workplace struggles, quite similar to that of *Arbetaren* (1922–), which makes them less relevant for analyzing anarchism per se.

15 Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen, "Introduction: The Last Insurrection? Youth, Revolts and Social Movements in the 1980s," in *A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s*, eds. Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen (Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); George Katsiaficas, *The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life* (London: Humanities Press, 1997).

16 Jan Jämte and Adrienne Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here? The Gradual Radicalization of the Anarchist Movement in Sweden 1980–90," in *A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s*, eds. Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen (Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 101–105. See also Fredrik Egefur's contribution to this volume.

17 Jan Jämte, Måns Lundstedt and Magnus Wennerhag, "From Radical Counterculture to Pragmatic Radicalism? The Collective Identity of Contemporary Radical Left-Libertarian Activism in Sweden," *Journal for the Study of Radicalism* 14, no. 1 (2020): 9–10; Jämte and Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here?" 105.

Television.18 In the years that followed, a flood of punk bands developed a subcultural expression that challenged authorities of every stripe.19 They energetically produced records and fanzines; bands like Ebba Grön began to make the Swedish headlines and soon became an influential part of the international scene.20 Punk had originated a few years earlier in UK and USA, spearheaded by the very same bands that made the tour to Stockholm in May 1977,21 where it immediately became recognized as a youth-driven subculture, characterized by its rebellious defiance of established customs and institutions.22

The anarchist course of the Swedish punk scene was set by the pioneering band Ebba Grön's explicit defiance of economic, political, and social hierarchies. Ebba Grön attacked economic exploitation by "refusing to be a machine that works for them".23 They made a hit by targeting the entanglement between "state and capital".24 The epitome of hierarchy was by Ebba Grön cynically portrayed as the skill to "lick upwards and kick downwards",25 a theme typically explored in *Brand*, 26 especially through the periodical's anarcho-punk rebrand in the 1980s.

18 Benke Carlsson, Peter Johansson and Pär Wickholm, *Svensk punk 1977–81: Varför tror du vi låter som vi låter…* (Stockholm: Atlas, 2004), 19; Erik Hannerz, *Performing Punk: Subcultural Authentications and the Positioning of the Mainstream* (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2013), 164–165.

19 Per Dannefjord and Magnus Eriksson, "Punk, klass och karriär," *Arkiv: Tidskrift för samhällsanalys*, no. 1 (2013): 97–100; Hannerz, *Performing Punk*, 40–43, 193–195.

20 Erik Hannerz and Mattias Persson, "Punk in Sweden," in *Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume XI* , eds. Paolo Prato and David Horn (New York: Bloomsbury, 2017); Peter Kagerland, *Ny våg: Svensk punk / new wave / synth 1977–1982*  (Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2012), 202–207.

21 Matthew Worley, *No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–1984*  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 3–5; Hannerz, *Performing Punk*, 163– 164.

22 Dick Hebdige, *Subculture: The Meaning of Style* (London: Routledge, 1979), 26, 102, 116–117.

23 Ebba Grön, "Sno från de rika," *We're Only in It for the Drugs!* (Mistlur, 1979).

24 Ebba Grön, "Staten och kapitalet," *Ung & kåt / Staten & kapitalet* (Mistlur, 1980).

25 Ebba Grön, "Slicka uppåt, sparka neråt!," *Kärlek & uppror* (Mistlur, 1981).

26*Brand* no. 19, "Våldet i skolan" (1988).

#### Anarcho-Punk

Although the pioneering punk bands in Sweden were politically informed by the antecedent *progg* culture of the 1970s extra-parliamentarian left,27 the connections between punk and anarchism became more formalized towards the middle of the 1980s. This political orientation was headed by foreign bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Poison Girls, Discharge, and Crass.28 The British band Crass (1977–1984) is generally considered to be the most influential band of *anarcho-punk*, this political subgenre of 1980s punk that aligned with the ideas and actions of anarchism.29 Crass was not only a punk band but also a farmhouse collective vested in various forms of political art. From this cultural-political position, Crass rampaged against the pop star culture they associated with punk in the late 1970s.30 It was Crass that would, according to Lohman and Worley, "transform punk's rhetorical anarchy into a viable political and cultural opposition" by devising a design for life best summarized in their slogan "there is no authority but yourself".31

In the Swedish 1980s, Crass became an ideological catalyst for the disobedient and rebellious stances that had been broadcasted by the pioneering punk band Ebba Grön. *Brand* published in 1987 an article stating that "today's young anarchists have directly or indirectly been formed by the attitudes of the punk attitudes in general, and the ideas of the band Crass in particular. […] It was Crass that gave anarchism in

27 Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius, "Progg: Utopia and Chronotope," in *Made in Sweden*  (London: Routledge, 2016).

28 Philip Lalander and Jonas Qvarsebo, *Punk i Peking: Motstånd, attityd och mening*  (Malmö: Peking studio, 2014), 98, 102; David Andersson, *Du har inte en chans. Ta den!: Råpunk – en narrativ studie av ett annorlunda svenskt 1980-tal* (Linköping: Linköping Univeristy (Master's thesis), 2021), 12–15.

29 Ian Glasper, *The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk* (London: PM Press, 2007), 11–31; Richard Cross, "'The Hippies Now Wear Black': Crass and the Anarcho-Punk Movement, 1977–1984," *Socialist History* 26 (2004).

30 Brian Cogan, "'Do They Owe Us a Living? Of Course They Do!' Crass, Throbbing Gristle, and Anarchy and Radicalism in Early English Punk Rock," *Journal for the Study of Radicalism* 1, no. 2 (2007): 80–81.

31 Kirsty Lohman and Matthew Worley, "Bloody Revolutions, Fascist Dreams, Anarchy and Peace: Crass, Rondos and the Politics of Punk, 1977–84," *Britain and the World* 11, no. 1 (2018): 53.

Europe new life in the early 1980s".32 A notable example is MOB 47, which along with Anti-Cimex was Sweden's most influential, and internationally recognized, anarcho-punk band of the 1980s.33 With lyrics like "rise against authority / dare think for yourself / don't let yourself be oppressed by the system",34 MOB 47 manifested the increasingly formalized connections between anarchism and punk.

As an anarchist periodical, *Brand* had long elaborated a profound critique of hierarchy.35 With the rebranding into *Total Brand*, in 1986, the periodical's content and aesthetics were spiced up with the zest of anarcho-punk. As if to underline this positioning, *Brand* launched a three-issue series, called "counterculture", fully dedicated to the genre.36 This fusion between punk and anarchism in Sweden is distinguishable from the UK context, where the leading anarchist periodicals frequently ridiculed and eschewed the political aspects of punk.37 What also happened through this rebranding was that *Brand* henceforth began to self-identify with the "autonomous movement" that now stirred in other parts of Europe and translated the punk rebellion into politics. In 1987, *Brand* published an article describing domestic and international autonomous groups as a "political tendency", united by "a political tradition [cultivating a] decentralised and non-hierarchical group structure".38 Echoing the hit song by Ebba Grön released a decade earlier,39 *Brand*

32*Total Brand* no. 18, "Tunga Prylar: Class War" (1988): 9.

33 I here focus on MOB 47 and Anti-Cimex since they were frequently mentioned in *Brand*, although the Swedish anarcho-punk scene also included notable bands like *Svart Parad*, *Shitlickers*, *Asocial*, and *Moderat likvidation*. See Glasper, *The Day the Country Died*, 682; Daniel Ekeroth, *Swedish Death Metal* (New York: Bazillion Points Books, 2008), 19–21; Kagerland, *Ny våg*, 94–96; Hannerz and Persson, "Punk in Sweden".

34 MOB 47, "Res dig mot överheten," *Kärnvapenattack* (Röj Records, 1984).

35 Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga*, 233–236.

36*Total Brand* no. 4, "Motkultur" (1986); *Total Brand* no. 5 (1986); *Total Brand*  no. 6, "Motkultur: Punk Is dead" (1986).

37 See Jim Donaghey, Will Boisseau and Caroline Kaltefleiter, "Introduction: Smash the System!," in *Smash the System! Punk Anarchism as a Culture of Resistance*, eds. Jim Donaghey, Will Boisseau and Caroline Kaltefleiter (Active Distribution, 2022).

38*Total Brand* no. 16, "De autonoma: En politisk tendens" (1987): 11.

39 Ebba Grön, "Staten och kapitalet."

stated in 1988: "Away with all private property. Away with all hierarchical institutions, the state, the parliament, the political parties".40 These anarchist expressions of anti-hierarchy, along with punk's overall uprising against authority, readily translated into the politics of direct action.

Squatting became increasingly notable in the direct-action repertoires. The Swedish punk scene had from its very start been resisting territorial stigmatization of the metropolitan periphery; the pioneering bands Ebba Grön and KSMB cynically depicted their disadvantaged position of living in marginalized urban areas.44 They also engaged in occupying the legendary punk hub *Oasen* when threatened with eviction by the Swedish

40*Brand* no. 20, "Rösta för fan inte på miljöpartiet" (1988): 5.

41 David Graeber, *Direct Action: An Ethnography* (Edinburgh: AK Press, 2009), 203.

42 Lorenzo Bosi and Lorenzo Zamponi, "Paths Toward the Same Form of Collective Action: Direct Social Action in Times of Crisis in Italy," *Social Forces* 99, no. 2 (2020); Vicente Ordóñez, "Direct action," in *Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach*, eds. Benjamin Franks, Nathan Jun and Leonard Williams (New York: Routledge, 2018), 115–116; Markus Lundström, *The Making of Resistance: Brazil's Landless Movement and Narrative Enactment* (Cham: Springer, 2017), 115–116.

43*Total Brand* no. 6, "Apati!" (1986).

44 Kagerland, *Ny våg*, 203, 324. See also lyrics to the songs Ebba Grön, "We're Only in It for the Drugs no. 1," *We're Only in It for the Drugs!* (Mistlur, 1979); KSMB, "Förortsbarn," *Bakverk 80* (MNW, 1979); KSMB, "Tidens tempo," *Aktion* (MNW, 1980).

authorities.45 While the squatting tradition in Sweden dates back at least to the 1960s,46 the punk movement complemented the squatting-forresidence orientation as they began to claim a cultural space of their own.47 Hence, when the whirlwind of squatting swept through Sweden in the mid-1980s, the anarchist periodical *Brand* had already reported about such struggles for nearly a decade.48 But with the punk-influenced remake of *Brand*, in 1986, the anarchist movement increasingly self-identified with the broader autonomous movement and its signatory practice of squatting. Inspired by the West German and Danish BZ movement, which was carefully covered in the journalism of *Total Brand* (1986– 1988),49 around twenty different squats appeared across Sweden during these three years.50 Squatting was here framed as a political alternative to that of skyrocketing inner-city rents and subsequent displacement of poor people to stigmatized areas in the city periphery. It was a politics to secure the right to housing but also independent cultural development.51 A notable example was the occupation of *Ultrahuset* in 1988, which resisted the municipal closure of a facility that since the early 1980s had been a focal point for Swedish punk music.52

45*Basta* no. 16–17, "Den sanna historien om Oasen" (1980); See also Dominika Polanska and Mathias Wåg, "De svenska husockupationernas 50-åriga historia," in *Ockuperat!: Svenska husockupationer 1968–2018*, eds. Dominika Polanska and Mathias Wåg (Stockholm: Verbal, 2019), 22–24.

46 Dominika Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State: Squatting in Sweden*  (New York: Routledge, 2019), 10–16.

47 Martin Ericsson, "Ockuperat område: Striden om brandstationen i Jönköping 1982," in *Politik underifrån: Kollektiva konfrontationer under Sveriges 1900-tal*, eds. Andrés Brink Pinto and Martin Ericsson (Lund: Arkiv förlag, 2016).

48*Brand* no., "Labour vrider tiden bakåt" (1976); *Brand* no. 13–14, "Järnet" (1979); *Basta* no. 16–17, "Odlad mark ska förbli odlad" (1980); *Brand* no. 9–10, "Från utopi till direkt aktion" (1978).

49*Total Brand* no. 3, "Nyheter från Västtyskland" (1986); *Total Brand* no. 4, "Enkeltur "Enkehuset"" (1986); *Total Brand* no. 7, "BZ nytt: Köpenhamn" (1986); *Total Brand* no. 18, "Haffenstrasse" (1988).

50 Polanska, 12.

51*Total Brand* no. 12, "BZ nytt: Tavastgatan Göteborg" (1987); *Total Brand* no. 17, "BZ nytt: Haga-ockupanter åker ut!!!" (1988).

52*Total Brand* no. 22, "Blåsningen" (1988); *Total Brand* no. 21, "Kampen om Ultra" (1988).

The direct-action repertoires also included sabotage of multinational corporations that directly or indirectly supported Apartheid in South Africa. One particular target was Shell, a company that sidestepped the international oil embargo to profit from the racist regime.53 In 1988– 1989, several anarchist groups joined forces with the BZ movement in Holland, West Germany, and Denmark, in a transnational direct action campaign against Shell to force the company to withdraw from its collaboration with Apartheid South Africa.54 *Brand* had in the preceding year begun reporting positively about sabotage against Shell stations in Denmark,55 and soon it reported about the first action in Sweden.56 In 1989, *Brand* published a list of nearly two hundred sabotaged Shell stations across the country and presented this phenomenon in terms of a "new social movement".57 This flood of direct actions now synchronized the repertoires of contention with the broader autonomous movement of the time,58 but also with the political tradition of anarchism. A 1987 *Brand* article explained that "what links different autonomous groups together is to some extent a political tradition, a decentralised and nonhierarchical group structure based on legal and 'open' customs but with preparedness for illegal actions".59

The commitment to direct action was furthermore propelled by an anarchist denouncement of parliamentary democracy and disbelief in voting. The first relaunch of *Brand*, in 1982, came as a special issue dedicated to the parliamentary election. It had the sarcastic subtitle "Vote on All Parties" and elaborated the classical anarchist argument about the

53 See Ishva Minefee and Marcelo Bucheli, "MNC Responses to International NGO Activist Campaigns: Evidence From Royal Dutch/Shell in Apartheid South Africa," *Journal of International Business Studies* 52, no. 5 (2021).

54 Flemming Mikkelsen and Rene Karpantschof, "Youth as a Political Movement: Development of the Squatters' and Autonomous Movement in Copenhagen," *International Journal of Urban and Regional Research* 25, no. 3 (2001): 617.

55*Total Brand* no. 13, "Solidaritet med Steve Biko: Aktionerna. Reaktionerna. Följderna" (1987).

56*Total Brand* no. 14, "Burn Shell to hell" (1987).

57*Brand* no. 29, "Den nya folkrörelsen" (1989).

58 George Katsiaficas, "Preface," in *The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present*, eds. Bart Van Der Steen, Ask Katzeff and Leendert van Hoogenhuijze (Oakland: PM Press, 2014).

59*Total Brand* no. 16 (1987): 11.

ballot as an illusion of popular power.60 Later on, in the election year of 1988, *Brand*'s front cover of the September issue had the bolded title "We do not vote!"61 Punk made the soundtrack to this political stance. The band MOB 47 released in 1985 their provocative song "Refuse to Vote".62 The straightforward anti-parliamentarism was accompanied by a fervent call for direct action, an empowering declaration that "we can change the system", followed by the imperative to "disobey the government's laws".63 This political tradition of vote refusal had long been a signatory to *Brand*. 64 Even before the breakthrough of universal suffrage, Albert Jensen, a long-term editor of *Brand* with notable connections to the international anarchist movement, including the suffrage-critic Emma Goldman, stated in an anti-voting pamphlet that "those who consciously refuse to vote are revolutionaries".65 At the historical moment of the first democratic election in Sweden, in the 1920s, *Brand* feverously promoted the anti-parliamentary action of refusing to vote.66 Six decades later, in the election year of 1988, *Brand* would once again call for that precise politics: "The election is an illusion. Our answer: direct action".67

60*Brand* no. Valextra, "Rösta på alla partierna" (1982); For a historical analysis of anarchist perspectives on voting, see Markus Lundström, "'The Ballot Humbug': Anarchist Women and Women's Suffrage," *Moving the Social* 66 (2022).

61*Brand* no. 19, "Vi röstar inte!" (1988).

62 MOB 47, "Vägra rösta!," *Stockholmsmangel* (n/a, 1985).

63 MOB 47, "Vi kan," *Sjuk värld* (Ägg Tapes, 1984).

64 See for instance *Brand* no. 38, "Antiparlamentarismen går segrande fram" (1920); *Brand* no. 40, "Valmakarna kväka" (1920); *Brand* no. 3, "Varför jag inte röstar" (1963); *Brand* no. 3, "Anarkism och parlamentarism" (1966); See also Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga*, 227, 239–240; Fernström, *Ungsocialismen* 346.

65 Albert Jensen, *Politikens orimlighet* (Lysekil: Tryckeri för Vestkusten, 1908), 10.

66*Brand* no. 40 (1920); *Brand* no. 40 (1920); *Brand* no. 38 (1921); Jensen's voterefusal was also elaborated in the anarcho-syndicalist journal Red Flags: *Röda fanor*, "Ungsocialisternas agitation för valstrejk" (1920); *Röda fanor*, "Böra ungsocialisterna revidera sin åskådning?" (October 1921); *Röda fanor*, "Antiparlamentarismen" (September 1921).

67*Brand* no. 22, "Valet är en illusion" (1988).

#### Struggles for Freedom

Defiance of hierarchy, and its entailed direct-action repertoire, is in anarchism intimately linked to political struggles for freedom.68 When anarchism met punk in the Swedish 1980s, the concept of freedom had many layers: freedom from authority, repression, and imprisonment; freedom to self-fulfilment and self-determination; freedom for others—including freedom for animal others. In 1984, the Swedish anarcho-punk band MOB 47 released the song "Animal Liberation". It raged against scientific vivisection along with an imperative question mark: "how can we stand by and watch as they murder the animals?"69 In the following summer of 1985, Animal Liberation Front made its first appearance in Sweden: two Beagle dogs were liberated from periodontitis experiments conducted by Malmö University.70 In October 1987, *Brand* provided instructions about how to perform animal liberation actions, along with a call for reporting these activities to the periodical.71 Soon thereafter, *Brand* published a three-page article on Animal Liberation Front in Sweden, along with payment instructions to support the struggle.72 *Brand* henceforth continued to advocate direct action for animal freedom.73

The struggles for freedom also targeted human imprisonment. In the most literary sense, *Brand* agitated for prison abolition to liberate people from spending their life behind bars.74 This struggle included solidarity with "political prisoners" like anti-militarist conscientious objectors and

68 See Nathan Jun, "Freedom," in *Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach*, eds. Benjamin Franks, Nathan Jun and Leonard Williams (New York: Routledge, 2018), 49–56.

69 MOB 47, "Animal Liberation," *Kärnvapenattack* (Röj Records, 1984).

70 Kerstin Jacobsson and Jonas Lindblom, *Animal Rights Activism: A Moral-Sociological Perspective on Social Movements* (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2016), 25–26; *Total Brand* no. 17, "Djurens befrielsefront: Organisationen vars målsättning är att inte finnas till" (1988).

71*Total Brand* no. 15, "ALF: Animal Liberation Front" (1987).

72*Total Brand* no. 17 (1988).

73 See for instance *Brand* no. 26, "Gnistor" (1989); *Brand* no. 31, "Aktioner" (1989); *Brand* no. 21, "Gnistor" (1988).

74*Brand* no. 24 (1988).

militant Shell-saboteurs.75 In the early 1980s, *Brand* incorporated a recurrent article section entitled "Letters From the Other Side of the Bars", which functioned as a communication channel between imprisoned people and the *Brand*-readers.76 The prison-abolitionist position was later embodied in the 1987 startup of a Swedish chapter of the international prisoner support network Anarchist Black Cross.77

Freedom from imprisonment also encompassed more subtle forms of restraint. The early issues of *Brand* recurrently challenged the capitalist dictum to work for a living—the wage-labour structure—and argued instead for work refusal as freedom and resistance to capitalist exploitation.78 *Brand* published in 1983 "The Workshy Manifesto" which, by paraphrasing The Communist Manifesto, agitated for liberation from work and elaborated the understanding that "unemployment is freedom".79 This anti-work attitude distinguished anarchism from the overall labour movement, including the Swedish anarcho-syndicalist union's focus on workplace resistance. The anarchist struggle for collective freedom was complemented by a call for individual freedom. This antiauthoritarian exploration of individuality became noticeably embraced by the punks that went against the mainstream towards new cultural expressions. In the vein of the UK band Crass' catchphrase "Anarchy, Peace, and Freedom",80 Swedish punks explored a plethora of symbolic combinations and fashion outfits,81 expressing what Erik Hannerz calls "punk as individual freedom from rules".82

75*Brandfaran* no. 4, "Rebell med brutet gevär" (1983); *Brandfaran* no. 1, "De sanna krigshjältarna…" (1984); *Brand* no. 14, "Även den hårdaste snäcka går att knäcka" (1988).

76*Basta* no. 15, "Brev från andra sidan gallret" (1980).

77*Total Brand* no. 10, "A-mötet" (1987).

78*Basta* no. 16–17, "Överlevnadssamhället: Från den vilda strejken till den allmäna självförvaltningen" (1980); *Brandfaran* no. 2, "A-socialen: Vägra arbete, vägra arbetsplikt" (1984); *Brandfaran* no. 3, "Arbetslösheten och det verkliga eländet" (1984); *Brandfaran* no. 2, "Levande revolution" (1984).

79*Brandfaran* no. 3, "De arbetsskyggas manifest" (1984).

80 Lohman and Worley, *Britain and the World*, 60.

81 Dannefjord and Eriksson, "Punk, klass och karriär," 99–100; Lalander and Qvarsebo, *Punk i Peking*, 33–35, 97–99.

82 Hannerz, *Performing Punk*, 58.

In Sweden as well as internationally, the do-it-yourself dictum characterized the agency of the punk scene.83 For Crass, as noted by Lohman and Worley, "anarchism was presented as self-taught, drawing from a range of ideas and practices – a DIY anarchism for a DIY culture",84 With the arrival of punk to Sweden in 1977, this subculture came to acquire administrative and technical skills to record and distribute music, arrange concerts and festivals, and broadcast radio shows; punks educated themselves in photography and painting to create posters, fanzines, and album covers; they advanced their art of writing to create lyrics, poetry, and journalistic articles.85 The DIY culture established during these initial years became most vital from 1982 onwards when the established media and music industry had lost its initial fascination with punk. In this context, experiential know-how and collective capability for cultural selfsufficiency became a necessity.86 *Brand* accordingly paid tribute to Crass as the architects of a politically replenished DIY culture; contrasted against the mere rebellious attitude of previous punk bands, Crass had offered a prefigurative politics that represented "a concrete alternative to status quo".87

#### Prefigurative Politics

The repertoires of contention deployed by Swedish anarcho-punks were fuelled by a profound belief in self-determination and in the capability to create political, economic, and social alternatives. For the contemporary anarchist movement, punk is indeed a past that continues to shape the present. One illustrative example, as I detail elsewhere, is how anarchist community kitchens today accentuate a striving to develop a vegan cuisine

83 Matthew Worley, "Punk, Politics and British (Fan) Zines, 1976–84: "While the World Was Dying, Did You Wonder Why?"," *History Workshop Journal* 79, no. 1 (2015); Ian Moran, "Punk: The Do-It-Yourself Subculture," *Social Sciences Journal* 10, no. 1 (2010); Ryan Moore, "Friends Don't Let Friends Listen to Corporate Rock: Punk as a Field of Cultural Production," *Journal of Contemporary Ethnography* 36, no. 4 (2007); Steven Blush, *American Hardcore: A Tribal History* (Los Angeles: Feral House, 2001), 318–329.

84 Lohman and Worley, *Britain and the World*, 60.

85 Dannefjord and Eriksson, "Punk, klass och karriär," 106–108; Lalander and Qvarsebo, *Punk i Peking*, 98–99.

86 Andersson, *Du har inte en chans*, 12–13.

87*Total Brand* no. 6 (1986): 16.

that would, as one of these participants puts it, "show people something different than the classic *punk stew*".88 The reference here is the generic dish that was born out of the cook-what-you-have cuisine characterizing the punk scene in the 1980s.89 The punk stew was part of a "subcultural food system",90 one that later travelled into the mobile activist kitchens that became a significant infrastructure of the alter-globalization movement at the turn of the millennium.91 Anarchist community kitchens in Sweden are now headed by a new generation of vegan gastronomists transgressing "the classic punk stew" to offer delightful food as a pull factor for political veganism.

This oral history example illustrates that the cooking practices developed by the early anarcho-punks are *not dead but alive*. It shows how past political practices can become a breeding ground for new forms of activism. The punk stew is not only a vivid historical reference but also a politico-culinary memorial, one that anarchists now revisit by asserting an ancestral relation to the 1980s anarcho-punks, albeit with a prefigurative aim of exceeding the tradition's culinary boundaries. The collective memory of these ancestors shapes present-day mobilization, just as anarchists in the 1980s regenerated political repertoires of the preceding tradition while, at the same time, deploying a future-oriented temporality of prefiguration.

*Prefigurative politics* refer to practices that seek to bring a desired future into a desolate present, creating a new world in the shell of the old.92 Social movement scholars have defined prefigurative politics as "an

88 Markus Lundström, "Political Imaginations of Community Kitchens in Sweden," *Critical Sociology* 49, no. 2 (2023).

89 See for instance *Total Brand* no. 7, "Enkelbiljett genom Sverige: Glädjetåget" (1986): 10.

90 Dylan Clark, "The Raw and the Rotten: Punk Cuisine," *Ethnology* 43, no. 1 (2004).

91 Sarah Fessenden, "Food Is a Right Not a Privilege: Punk Anarchism, Ephemerality, and Seeding Change in Vancouver," in *Emergent Spaces: Change and Innovation in Small Urban Spaces*, ed. Petra Kuppinger (Cham: Springer, 2021).

92 Lara Monticelli, "On the Necessity of Prefigurative Politics," *Thesis Eleven* 167, no. 1 (2021).

embodied process of reimagining all of society",93 which entails a "futureoriented construction of political alternatives".94 The DIY culture is but one example of the temporally disobedient operation in that repertoire of contention.

The notion of prefigurative politics complicates the resource mobilization of collective memories and the punk temporality of breaking with preceding generations while declaring, like Sex Pistols, a no-future.95 The punk youth forwarded a sharp critique against their parents' generation, which they held responsible for a tedious and miserable situation.96 The punks rebelled against how the future had been stolen from them. They defied the temporality of short-term employment and residence that characterized their socioeconomic marginalization. They fought to break free from a dragged-out present of boredom and meaninglessness. In 1977, Ebba Grön portrayed a desperate entrapment in a circular time order: "get up – go to work – work – work – eat lunch / same thing tomorrow / work – take the tube back home and do nothing / that's not a life / that's slavery / so keep on being a rebel".97

The punk rebellion was an attempt to reclaim the future. The disorderly youth cultivated a subculture that readily made it into the mainstream—and it was fuelled by pure defiance against the no-future assigned to them. The anarcho-punk struggle, against hierarchy and for freedom, was not only about creating an alternative future, not merely a political goal located at the horizon of time, but rather a politics to enact, to prefigure, that future already in the present. This is the disobedient temporality of prefiguration.

93 Marianne Maeckelbergh, "The Prefigurative Turn: The Time and Place of Social Movement Practice," in *Social Sciences for an Other Politics: Women Theorizing Without Parachutes*, ed. Ana Cecilia Dinerstein (Cham: Springer, 2016), 122.

94 Luke Yates, "Prefigurative Politics and Social Movement Strategy: The Roles of Prefiguration in the Reproduction, Mobilisation and Coordination of Movements," *Political Studies* 69, no. 4 (2020): 1.

95 Sex Pistols, "God Save the Queen," *Never Mind the Bollocks. Here's the Sex Pistols*  (Virgin Records, 1977).

96 Matthew Worley, "Riotous Assembly: British Punk's Cultural Diaspora in the Summer of'81," in *A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s*, eds. Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen (Cham: Springer, 2016), 220–225.

97 Ebba Grön, "Vad ska du bli?" *Vad ska du bli? / Häng Gud* (Mistlur, 1979).

There was, however, a conflict between the prefigurative exploration of alternative lifestyles and attempts to organize a broader class struggle for systemic change. For example, the articles in *Brand* sometimes contrasted the explicit anarcho-pacifism of the band Crass with the confrontational politics emphasized by the British anarchist group Class War.98 This tension highlights a discord in the anarchist repertoires of contention regarding the use of violence, a dissonance propelled by the diverse temporalities of prefiguration and revolution. Whereas prefigurative politics draw a desired future into the desolate present, revolutionary politics aim for a future where alternative lifestyles would be obsolete. These diverse means-end orientations have different implications for the place of violence in the anarchist repertoires of contention.

#### Violence

The issue of violence has rendered an immense discussion throughout the anarchist periodical *Brand*. In the broadest sense, it contains three different positions: non-use of violence through *anti-militarism*; momentary use of violence in *self-defence*, and strategic use of *revolutionary violence* in the struggle for a less violent future.

*Anti-militarism* is the political imperative that state violence must be broken and left unsupported. This categorical renouncement of violence has been something of a leitmotif to *Brand* since its inception. In the early 1900s, when military conscription became compulsory in Sweden, anarchists and peace activists who refused to partake in state violence were considered a threat by the Swedish authorities. The *Brand* editors repeatedly faced charges of disloyalty to the state.99 Security forces saw anarchists as particularly menacing during the interwar and war periods, precisely due to their fierce resistance to military conscription.100 Even

98*Total Brand* no. 18 (1988); cf. Jim Donaghey, "The "Punk Anarchisms" of Class War and CrimethInc.," *Journal of Political Ideologies* 25, no. 2 (2020): 118–119.

99 Karin Jonsson, *Fångna i begreppen?: Revolution, tid och politik i svensk socialistisk press 1917–1924* (Huddinge: Södertörns högskola, 2017), 86–97; Fernström, *Ungsocialismen*  116–121; Lång, *Drömmen om det ouppnåeliga*, 7–8.

100 Irene Andersson, "Antimilitaristic Antiwar Committees in Sweden 1934–1936: A Question of Fear and Masculinity," in *Gender, War and Peace: Breaking Up the Borderlines*, eds. Anders Ahlbäck and Fia Sundevall (Joensuu: University Press of Eastern Finland, 2014).

with the impending threat of the ideologically antagonistic National Socialist Germany, anarchistic anti-militarism persisted; *Brand* published in 1939 a radical-pacifist book by the journal's editor, Carl-Johan Björklund, entitled "I Do Not Believe in Violence".101

The 1980s unfolded in the tracks of that legacy. *Brand* regularly published calls for "total refusal" of military conscription,102 a political statement that is still criminalized in Sweden and in the 1980s frequently resulted in imprisonment. In this anti-militaristic vein, *Brand* agitated for total refusal, rather than the legal option of the conscious objection, and actively supported the anti-militaristic "political prisoners" held captive by the Swedish state.103 Refusal of military conscription was also a recurrent theme in the early punk entries,104 and this position continued with anarcho-punk and especially with the band Anti-Cimex's double call for "pacifism" and "anarchy".105 To the secret police in Sweden, however, the anti-militarism expressed by punks and anarchists was, in the 1980s, no longer considered a threat.106 The security alarm was re-activated when anarchism became linked to a series of more confrontational direct actions,107 in which *Total Brand* was pointed out as a lead voice of this "new and militant anarchist movement".108

Violence as *self-defence* means that physical force cannot be used proactively, but only as a temporary means to defend an individual or a group that is under attack. In the first half of the 1980s, the police considered anarchists to be fully dedicated to non-violence.109 But towards the

101 Carl Johan Björklund, *Jag tror inte på våldet: Ett diskussionsinlägg* (Stockholm: Bokförlaget Brand, 1939).

102*Brandfaran* no. 3, "Aktiv totalvägran" (1984); *Brandfaran* no. 4 (1983).

103*Total Brand* no. 18, "Våga vägra" (1988): 30.

104 Ebba Grön, "Totalvägra," *We're Only in It for the Drugs!* (Mistlur, 1979); KSMB, "Militärlåten," *Bakverk 80* (MNW, 1979).

105 Anti-Cimex, "Anti-Cimex," *Anarkist attack EP* (BULLSHIT, 1982).

106 Magnus Hjort, *Hotet från vänster: Säkerhetstjänsternas övervakning av kommunister, anarkister m.m. 1965–2002* (Stockholm: Fritzes, 2002), 379–380.

107 Hjort, *Hotet från vänster*, 324–343; SÄPO, *Våldsam politisk extremism: Antidemokratiska grupperingar på yttersta höger- och vänsterkanten* (Stockholm: Säkerhetspolisen, 2009), 11, 42–43; Jämte and Sörbom, "Why Did It Not Happen Here?" 105–107.

108 SÄPO, quoted in Hjort, 330–331.

109 Hjort, *Hotet från vänster*, 379–380.

middle of the 1980s, collective self-defence became an increasingly important part of the anarchist repertoires of contention. Squatters began to fight back during police-led evictions. For instance, when the police intervened to break up a squat in the summer of 1986, police officers declared in court to have been attacked with eggs, paint-filled balloons, stones, and smoke grenades.110 Although the charged squatters claimed that to be misunderstandings and exaggerations,111 the security police nonetheless started to intensify their surveillance of the anarchist movement.112 Hence, the anarchist spectre transmuted in the 1980s; the threat was no longer anarchists *refusing* state violence but that anarchists themselves were *using* violence against the state.

However, a full-hearted embrace of *revolutionary violence* was quite a marginal position in *Brand*, used primarily for rhetorical reasons. The weaponized imagery of the social revolution was nonetheless broadcasted through punk, perhaps most notably in Ebba Grön's songs "Shoot a Cop" and "Arm Yourselves".113 Ebba Grön was originally a code name for a police operation that, in the spring of 1977, targeted a revolutionary group of self-identified anarchists planning to take a Swedish politician hostage to enable freedom for persecuted members of the German Red Army Faction (RAF).114 The band's name was purposefully chosen to provoke and mock the authorities.115 The violent-revolutionary prose of Ebba Grön readily found fertile ground in *Brand*. As with the punks, RAF references in *Brand* were mainly rhetorical; depictions of armed violence spiced up the artwork of revolution. But some articles in *Brand*  also articulated real support for the RAF's tactics.116 Vindication of the Marxist-Leninist organization RAF—despite the anarchist movement's emblematic hostility to authoritarian socialism—was propelled by the

110 Hjort, *Hotet från vänster*, 335–336.

111*Total Brand* no. 7, "BZ nytt: Luntmakargatan, Stockholm" (1986).

112 SÄPO, quoted in Hjort, *Hotet från vänster*, 333.

113 Ebba Grön, "Skjut en snut," *Oasen* (MNW, 1979); Ebba Grön, "Beväpna er!," *We're Only in It for the Drugs!* (Mistlur, 1979).

114 Dan Hansén and Jens Nordqvist, *Kommando Holger Meins: Dramat på västtyska ambassaden och Operation Leo* (Stockholm: Ordfront, 2005), 277–285.

115 Staffan Björkman, *Thåström – Stå aldrig still. En bok om Joakim Thåström: Samlade reportage, intervjuer, artiklar och recensioner* (Göteborg: Reverb, 2010), 10.

116*Total Brand* no. 12, "Anarki & våld" (1987): 17; *Brand* no. 27–28, "Baader-Meinhof komplexet" (1989).

crackdown against Swedish anarchists in the wake of the Ebba Grön operation in 1977, which led the police to link anarchism with terrorism.117 The repression triggered solidarity with imprisoned anarchists and defence of their violent tactics.118 It also prompted rebellion against the state monopoly on violence: "we ourselves decide when we will fight".119

At the other end of the spectrum was the anti-militaristic standpoint that had been the leitmotif of *Brand* since the late 1800s. This positioning was closely related to that of non-violence, not only through the politized refusal to join the military but also by elaborating prefigurative politics that, by inverting the means-end causality, makes violence counterproductive. Disregarding ideological and tactical commitments to non-violence, Swedish authorities have from the late 1980s onwards seen a threat in the anarchist repertoires of squatting, corporate sabotage, and escalating confrontations with the police.120 The 1980s was the decade that brought the spectre of anarchism back to life.

### Punk Is Dead

The anarchist repertoires of contention were revitalized in the Swedish 1980s when anarchism met punk. Direct action came to inform the politics of squatting, sabotage actions, and struggles for freedom for humans and animals alike. The repertoire heritage also brought re-negotiations of violence, where energetic opinions about non-violence, self-defence, and occasionally also armed revolution, clashed against each other; violence was rendered obsolete in prefigurative politics, the enactment of anarchy in the present, but violence was also reclaimed from the state monopoly through a diversity of tactics outlined by the international autonomous and anarchist movements' self-defence against the police.

The punk-regeneration of anarchism in the 1980s spotlights how past political repertoires came to life, like pyrophile plants sprouting through

120 FOI, *Den digitala kampen: Autonoma rörelser på nätet* (Stockholm: Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut, 2018); Olof Petersson, *Demokratins motståndare: Rapport MSB896*  (Stockholm: Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, 2015); CVE, *Den autonoma miljön* (Stockholm: Brottsförebyggande rådet / CVE – Center mot våldsbejakande extremism, 2020).

117 Hjort, *Hotet från vänster*, 324.

a wildfire. By reviving remnants of the preceding movement, anarchist ancestors were, in an existential-political sense, kept alive.

In a frontal attack against the commercialization and mainstreaming of a once rebellious youth movement, the UK band Crass polemically declared, in 1978, that "punk is dead".121 This premature deadness then revived the punk scene, as it now sought out a political ideology that also had been declared dead: anarchism was crushed under the Franco-regime in late 1930s Spain and then silenced by the ideological polarization of the Cold war.122 In the Swedish 1980s, however, the anarchist repertoires of contention did not only align with the broader autonomous movement in Europe. They also enacted existential-political means of "being with the dead", a Heideggerian notion that philosopher Hans Ruin uses to capture how the past "continues to be constituted in and through the involvement of the living with the dead and how the dead shape the space of the living".123

The ubiquitous postulate that "punk is dead" becomes rather telling here. Even if political or cultural ancestry is rendered dead—like classical anarchism and early punk—the heritage lives on by reviving repertoires of contention into the present. In Sweden, the pioneering punk bands set the tone for anarcho-punk and the anarchist periodical *Brand*. Towards the end of the Swedish 1980s, anarchism and punk had become regenerated, I would argue, precisely through this existential being with the dead.

#### References

Andersson, Irene. 2014. Antimilitaristic Antiwar Committees in Sweden 1934– 1936: A Question of Fear and Masculinity. In *Gender, War and Peace: Breaking Up the Borderlines*, ed. Anders Ahlbäck and Fia Sundevall, 93–107. Joensuu: University Press of Eastern Finland.

121 Crass, "Punk Is Dead," *The Feeding of the 5000* (Southern Studios, 1978).

122 The anarchist historiographer George Woodcock made this declaration in 1962 but later revised it while watching the 1968-movement arise. See George Woodcock, *Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements* (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1962); Allan Antliff, "George Woodcock on 'The Anarchist Critic'," *Anarchist Studies* 23, no. 1 (2015).

123 Hans Ruin, *Being with the Dead: Burial, Ancestral Politics, and the Roots of Historical Consciousness* (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2018), 111.

Ebba Grön. 1979. We're Only in It for the Drugs no. 1. *We're Only in It for the Drugs!* Mistlur.

Ebba Grön. 1980. Staten och kapitalet. *Ung & kåt / Staten & kapitalet*. Mistlur.

Ebba Grön. 1981. Slicka uppåt, sparka neråt! *Kärlek & uppror.* Mistlur.

Ekeroth, Daniel. 2008. *Swedish Death Metal*. New York: Bazillion Points Books.

*Movements in the 1980s*, ed. Knud Andresen and Bart van der Steen, 97–111. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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# "The Winter Palace" in Malmö: Subversive Activists, Welfare-State Anarchists, or Just a Slightly Radical Cultural Association?

# *Fredrik Egefur*

### Setting the Scene

The Winter Palace (*Vinterpalatset*) was a venue and association within the left-wing alternative environment in Malmö (Sweden's third biggest city) between 1987 and 1989. The association had premises in the port area and was, by its own definition, an anarchist group. The venue ran a pub and café; arranged concerts, public lectures, and movie screenings; broadcasted radio; published fanzines; and more. The idea was that the proceeds would be used to build a Southern Swedish center for anarchist propaganda and political struggle. However, this idea did not fully realize,

F. Egefur (B)

Labour Movement's Archive in Skåne/ Department of History, Malmö stad/ Lund University, Malmö/ Lund, Sweden e-mail<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© The Author(s) 2023

111

H. Hill and A. B. Pinto (eds.), *Social Movements in 1980s Sweden*, Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27370-4\_5

and the extensive mix of cultural activities is probably better remembered today than the more explicit political activities that were carried out.1

Even though the Winter Palace (TWP) claimed to be influenced by various European occupation groups ("squatters"), the venue was let by the city of Malmö on a legal demolition contract. Nevertheless, the association still considered themselves part of the squatter scene and had frequent contact with groups in other cities. Some confrontations with police and other groups did occur, but nowhere near as often as for similar groups in e.g., Copenhagen and Amsterdam. TWP was otherwise very focused on a pacifist, non-violent agenda, with roots in the progressive movements of the 1960s and 1970s. When the venue's contract finally expired in 1989, the activists left the premises without resistance, and instead ran the café The Black Cat (*Svarta katten*) for a few years. In the 1990s the emergence of the more violent autonomous scene made the activities at TWP look past one's prime for the younger activists.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the Winter Palace activist group in Malmö, and to analyze their actions from a "political opportunity structures" framework. This framework is defined by political science researcher Sidney Tarrow as examining "consistent but not necessarily formal, permanent, or national signals to social or political actors [,] which either encourage or discourage them to use their internal resources to form social movements."2 More specifically, Tarrow refers to "aspects of the political system that affect the possibilities that challenging groups have to mobilize effectively." Political opportunities could therefore be summed up as "options for collective action, with chances and risks attached to them, which depend on factors outside the mobilizing group."3

The article builds on three main sources: First and foremost, the Winter Palace's archive collection, which has never previously been used

1 Historian Johan Pries devotes one chapter of his master's thesis to TWP as a background to the birth of the autonomous scene in Malmö and Lund. No other previous research has been found. Johan Pries, *En rörelse blir till: De autonoma i Malmö och Lund 1986–1992,* Lund University (2008, unpublished master's thesis).

2 Sidney Tarrow, "States and Opportunities: The Political Structuring of Social Movements," in *Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements*, ed. Doug McAdam, John D. McCarthy, and Mayer N. Zald (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 54.

3 Marco Giugni, "Political Opportunities: From Tilly to Tilly," *Swiss Political Science Review* 15, no. 2 (2009): 361.

in research, and contains documents such as meeting minutes, correspondence with authorities, fanzines/pamphlets, posters, and more. Second, articles from contemporary niche magazines, such as *Brand/Total-Brand*  and *Magazin April*, which occasionally covered TWP. Third, semistructured interviews with three of the leading activists, including TWP's first chairman, and two other activists who regularly wrote in the abovementioned niche magazines. The interviews were conducted and analyzed in line with today's scientific standards, bearing in mind that the events took place over 30 years ago.4

### Historical Background

During the early 1980s, several Northern and Western European cities were characterized by an extensive house occupant scene, later known as the "squatters' movement." This movement combined political activities with subcultural living, and more or less militant groups in e.g., Amsterdam, Copenhagen, West Berlin, Zurich, and London managed to occupy houses or even entire neighborhoods.5 Bart van der Steen states that even though the 1980s movement shared much of the action repertoire of older groups, especially the mixture of radical politics and alternative culture, a significant shift took place around 1980. New activists, mostly drawn from the middle and working classes, focused less on theory, and more on direct political action. The goal was to create free, alternative zones where a variety of cultural events and political actions could take place. Another defining part of the activist milieu of the mid-1980s was the influence of the punk wave—with its "do-ityourself" agenda—probably as a counter-reaction to the more dogmatic Marxist-Leninist left of the 1970s (which at the time led to a dwindling existence).6

4 In agreement with the wishes of the interviewees, all three have been referred to by the their actual first names.

5 Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeff and Leedert van Hoogenhuijze, "Introduction: Squatting and Autonomous Action in Europe, 1980–2012," in *The City Is Ours: Squatting and Anonymous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present*, ed. Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeff and Leedert van Hoogenhuijze (Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2014), 2–11.

6 See also Marcus Lundström's contribution to this book.

These conflict repertoires soon spread across Western Europe; certainly not to all cities, but enough to create a clear trend. The squatters' movement incorporated various political questions in their struggle, such as animal rights, peace activism, and anti-racism.7 Most groups used the occupation of buildings as an infrastructural starting point from which other political actions could be organized. These autonomous social centers generally played a vital role in the city's cultural and political environment by providing a space for underground music and other cultural events, as well as political activities.8 Eventually, the term "autonomous" came to be more often used to describe this subculture, rather than the formerly used "squatters' movement."9

For the Swedish context, an influential example of the European squatters' movement was the Danish group BZ, which emerged during one of Europe's most energetic and extensive occupations, starting in Copenhagen in 1981. The Danish scene involved violent confrontations with police, and frequent street battles, which were later romanticized and used in the movement's own historical writings to strengthen internal morale.10 In several Swedish cities, more or less ambitious attempts were made to copy the European strategy, especially in Stockholm, and in the long-standing occupation of the Haga quarters in Gothenburg. As Dominika V. Polanska shows in her contribution to this book, occupations also took place in smaller towns. Specifically, groups frequently demanded or claimed, houses for rock band rehearsals and gigs. The more political connection on a macro level was often more implicitly linked to the struggle though, and physical violence was seldom used.11

Returning to the occupation of Haga in Gothenburg, sociologist Håkan Thörn shows how the many years of struggle in these quarters

7 Hans Pruijt, "Squatting in Europe," in *Squatting in Europe: Radical Spaces, Urban Struggles*, ed. The Squatting Europe Kollective (New York: Minor Compositions, 2013), 29.

8 van der Steen et al., "Introduction," 16–17.

9 van der Steen et al., "Introduction," 3.

10 See Flemming Mikkelsen and René Karpantschof, "Youth as a Political Movement: Development of the Squatters' and Autonomous Movement in Copenhagen 1981–95," *International Journal of Urban and Regional Research* 25, no. 3 (2001): 609–628.

11 See e.g., Peter Håkansson and Johan Lundin, "'Rock för ett hus': En komparativ undersökning av tillkomsten av musikhus i Malmö och Lund under 1980-talet," in *Populärmusik, uppror och samhälle*, ed. Lars Berggren, Mats Greiff and Björn Horgby (Malmö: Malmö University Press, 2009).

constitute a special case in Sweden. The occupation did not specifically concern venues for political action or cultural events, but rather the wider issue of city planning, i.e., whether or not the buildings should be demolished. Between 1970 and 1990, several different buildings in the Haga district were occupied, and according to Thörn, an "urban alternative culture was established that was unparalleled in any other Swedish city." Thörn demonstrates how this occupation eventually diverged from the movements of most other European cities by displaying a friendly and positive attitude toward police and other authorities. He also highlights how the image of the occupants changed over time, from being heavily criticized by politicians and the media, to becoming an active party in development negotiations at the "consensus-culture conversation table."12

To explain this multifaceted development, Thörn uses the phrase "welfare-state anarchists" (*folkhemsanarkister*), which he regards as a specifically Swedish phenomenon. Although the Haga occupants displayed an ideological affiliation with BZ, the Danish scene at this time was characterized by violent clashes between activists and police, as well as a reluctance to negotiate with authorities, which was uncommon in Gothenburg. Instead, the Haga activists used humor and self-irony in an, according to Thörn, deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the violent escalation between police and activists in Copenhagen.13 As we shall see, the "welfare-state anarchist" label is also useful for explaining the contradictions among TWP activists in Malmö.

# The Winter Palace

At the beginning of the 1980s, Malmö, which is located just a short ferry ride away from Copenhagen, had been governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party for nearly 60 years, since universal suffrage was established in 1921. The party regularly arranged cultural activities for

12 Håkan Thörn, *Stad i rörelse: Stadsomvandlingen och striderna om Haga och Christiania* (Stockholm: Atlas Akademi, 2013), 12–13.

13 Thörn, *Stad i rörelse,* 349–350. See also Dominika V. Polanska, *Contentious Politics and the Welfare State: Squatting in Sweden* (Abingdon: Routledge, 2019), 32–33.

teenagers and the rest of the city through municipal channels,14 but in the early 1980s, youth groups became more vocal in requesting rehearsal spaces, as well as bigger venues for bands and concerts—demands that can be traced to the impact of the punk scene.15 At the same time, cultural "all-activity houses" were a big international talking point. Following a series of political actions and debates, a former restaurant in Malmö, Stadt Hamburg, opened as a music venue in 1984. Several local cultural associations (33/44, Huset, Dundret, and KIM Ung) were invited to run the premises in cooperation with the municipal cultural administration. However, the municipal youth association, which was supposed to act as the coordinator, was soon taken over by left-wing activists,16 forming a core group of young people who were interested in both politics and culture. They introduced a new association, S.O.T, whose statute wrote: to "stand as a cultural support organization for the anarchist movement" through "mainly cultural events."17

Another important development for TWP took place during the summer of 1986, when a group of anarchists from Southern and Central Sweden banded together to organize a touring festival called The Joy Train (*Glädjetåget*). The festival was influenced by the hippie events of the 1970s, as well as the concurrent revival tours of the Pentecostal movement,18 and was arranged through the so-called A-network, which aimed to bring anarchist groups in Southern Sweden closer together. The purpose of the tour was primarily to spread the anarchist message, but it also offered concerts, theater performances, and other cultural events. The tour in 1986 visited around ten locations and seems to have been met with mixed interest, but it was of great importance as an identity-forming factor.19 The Joy Train also led to a rapid inflow of activists from other cities to Malmö, where a new community arose. This community soon

14 Magnus Gertten, "Fri teater, rockmusik, film, tidskrifter och ungdomskultur," in *Malmö stads historia, del 7, 1939–1990*, ed. Oscar Bjurling (Malmö: Kira förlag, 1994), 372–384.

15 Håkansson and Lundin,"'Rock för ett hus'".

16 Interview with Lasse and Tim, 2021–05–13.

17 'Stadgar för föreningen S.O.T.'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp F. Arbetarrörelsens arkiv i Skåne (ARA).

18 Interview with Karin, 2021–09–02.

19 Interview with Karin.

**Picture 5.1** The Winter Palace' in Malmö (*Photo* The Labour Movements's Archive in Skåne)

mixed with activists from Stadt Hamburg/S.O.T. and local syndicalists, laying the foundations for the Winter Palace association.20

In 1987, the group signed a so-called demolition contract in the Malmö port area, renting the premises of a former docking company. The area was dilapidated, and major restoration of the entire neighborhood was due to start soon. The contract started on March 27, 1987, for the price of 60 000 SEK per year,21 and allowed the premises to be used for "exhibition and printing operations," which came to be interpreted in a much broader sense over the next few years.22 An additional clause specified that the building would be demolished in the near future and that the tenants would not be able to make claims for a replacement venue, nor financial compensation23 (Picture 5.1).

20 "Gack in uti arken, du och hela ditt hus," *Kalla fakta: Nyheter från Vinterpalatset*  no. 1 (1989): 16; Interview with Lasse and Tim.

21 Around 12,500 Euros in today's value.

22 'Hyresavtal Malmö kommuns fastighetskontor', *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp E. ARA.

23 'Bilaga till hyresavtal', *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp E. ARA.

The location on Winter Street gave rise to the name "the Winter Palace," in the spirit of traditional European activism.24 However, it was hardly a palace. Though relatively large (350 square meters), it was almost empty, and in urgent need of renovations. Some early investments included materials and equipment for the printing, later followed by a darkroom, a workshop, and a café/pub, where a stage was also built.25 The range of possibilities for different activities shows the international influence of all-activity houses and the departure from the "music house" format which was typical of Southern Swedish cities in the 1980s.

### Purpose and Practice

In the first article mentioning TWP, published by *Magazin April* in the spring of 1987, an unnamed activist shares the story behind the all-activity house:

As usual, we sat and talked about our dreams and ambitions, you know, like you do. Suddenly, someone started talking about having a place to do everything. Everything we had always dreamed of but hadn't been able to realize. A place where we're not dependent on associations or government grants, but where we ourselves must take responsibility, and would be able to develop our abilities and ideas.26

Although the goal was to be independent, a formal association was needed in order to obtain a contract for, and run a business in, the dilapidated house. On March 7, 1987, the association held a constituent meeting, where a board was elected, signatories were appointed, and the membership fee was set to 50 SEK per year. One of the activists has subsequently expressed how unbearably boring all these formalities were,27 but in view of the impeccable documents that were left behind, the participants were not unfamiliar with board meetings. The documents also declared the formal statutes of TWP:

24 Interview with Lasse and Tim.

25 "Gack in uti arken, du och hela ditt hus," 16.

26 Karin Mex, "Vinterpalatset: kontrollerat kaos," *Magazin April* no. 1–2 (1987): 57.

27 Interview with Karin.

To be a political force with the aim of promoting alternative and libertarian ideas, of supporting and promoting anti-authoritarian ideas. To promote the formation of cooperatives. To work to undermine the structures of capitalist society through media, information, mediation, cultural activities, and through practical examples, showing that change is possible in the prevailing social system.28

At the time of this constituent meeting, the association had 120 members, but the collected membership fees were barely enough to pay the first rent. At a later meeting, it was calculated that TWP would need at least 10 000 SEK a month to keep their activities going.29 According to a more ambitious calculation, income from printing, editorial work, exhibitions, tours, and other projects, would be able to cover the entire operating cost within six months. In the short term, however, the majority of the running costs would have to be collected through "support events/parties." It is unclear exactly how many of these were held, but at the beginning of May 1987, the first attempts were summed up in a kind of commentary protocol, showing that the group had already made around 7000 SEK (although it "should" have been 9300 SEK if people hadn't nicked some of the beer).30

In July and August 1987, new meetings were held to discuss possible sources of income. The solution was a "big party."31 By this time, party arrangements had become quite standardized: Usually, 30 crates of beer were ordered, and the chairman was appointed to apply for a formal alcohol license from the municipality.32 Arranging illegal parties, or even selling beer illegally, does not seem to have been considered. The Swedish alcohol policy was very strict at this time, differing greatly from the situation in Denmark. Thus, in other contexts, cheap beer smuggled in from Denmark was very common in Malmö, but TWP does not seem to have engaged in this kind of activity, at least not to sell.

Toward the end of 1987, TWP shifted its focus outwards, beginning the publication of the pamphlet *The Winter Palace*, which listed a

28 'Stadgar antagna vid konstituerandet av föreningen' (7 March 1987) *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

29 Over 2,000 Euros in today's value.

30 'Möte den 7–5–87'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

31 'VP-möte 4 aug 87'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

32 'Möte 9–7–87'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

**Picture 5.2** The Winter Palace' in Malmö—building a stage (*Photo* The Labour Movements's Archive in Skåne)

wealth of public events, such as concerts, poetry readings, film screenings, and lectures. Roughly one Saturday a month, a "special party" was also arranged for members only, which usually involved a concert with a slightly more well-known band.33 A recurring point in the rhapsodic discussion protocols relates to exactly who was welcome at these events; to attend, you had to be a member, but each member could also bring a friend. It is possible that this issue reflected arbitrary practices34 (Picture 5.2).

At the start of 1988, a printing plant, a photo lab, and a garage opened at TWP. The photo lab is known to have been run as a study circle, which was the classic way to arrange popular education in the Swedish labor movement, as well as in other popular movements, during the twentieth century. The same spring, the association discussed whether to create false

33 See 'Vinterpalatset februari/mars'88'; 'Vinterpalatset april/maj'88'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

34 See 'Möte 9–7–87'; 'Vinterpalatset februari/mars'88'; 'Vinterpalatset april/maj'88'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

membership lists for their study circles as a way to raise money, but found that this was not necessary due to the amount of genuine activity.35

In connection with the association's first annual meeting, on March 12, 1988, two interesting documents were compiled: a standard annual report by the first chairman, accompanied by formal annual meeting minutes; and a detailed summary by the secretary, where he discusses specific subjects in more detail. In the annual report, the chairman states that the association arranged a "fair mix of cultural and political activities" during the year. He mentions some examples of political events, such as demonstrations and situationist actions, but mainly refers to cultural activities.36 However, the secretary also highlights a discussion of the association's ideology and objectives during the meeting, focusing primarily on whether they had succeeded in becoming "a kind of anarchist liaison center," or whether they gave the impression of simply being "a slightly radical cultural association." Following this discussion, some important conclusions were drawn for TWP's future goals:

The activities at TWP must be such that we can act as a liaison center/information agency, in collaboration with other anarchist and alternative groups in Skåne and the rest of Sweden, so that the actions carried out to improve our society can be well-coordinated and well-substantiated with knowledge. In order for this to be implemented, the 'ground service' must work. […] Cultural events also have their rightful place within TWP: if nothing else, 'culture shock therapy' is an effective form of action.37

According to these guidelines, the political activity would form the core of TWP, while the various activities offered in the building would function as a "ground service," i.e., a way to keep the association running. The role of culture within the association thus became more ambiguous: should its "given place" be as a ground service, as a form of action, or as something else in its own right? Although this question was never answered, TWP continued to arrange concerts, parties, lectures, plays, poetry readings, film screenings, etc. during their final year. They also launched their own local radio channel, which broadcasted twice a week,

35 'Leifs anteckningar från årsmötet 88.03.12'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

36 'Verksamhetsberättelse 1987/88'. *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA.

37 'Leifs anteckningar från årsmötet 88.03.12'.

and *The Winter Palace* pamphlet evolved into more of a regular magazine. From this point onwards, the meeting minutes, or rather meeting notes, continued to mostly revolve around practical tasks, e.g., how the pub should be staffed, who would do the cleaning, whether there were functioning fire safety measures, and so on.

These public cultural events probably bore the main responsibility for TWP becoming a well-known name in Malmö, but they also involved certain issues, which were debated by the activists: Was it politically sound to put so much effort into providing cheap beer for people, and did TWP offer enough political activities in relation to all these cultural events? There was ambiguity in what "supporting anarchist issues" really entailed: To hold a free zone for creativity and culture, free from a world of capitalism, racism, and sexism; or to perform public political activities, such as demonstrations? These debates were never concluded. The last party, however, took place in February 1989, under the name "TOTAL PARTY – one last clearing party!", before TWP was demolished38 (Picture 5.3).

It's easy to highlight the many cultural activities that TWP arranged, due to preserved protocols and programs, but it is more difficult to point to their explicitly political activities. Apparently, TWP collaborated extensively with other associations and networks, both within Sweden and across Europe. Solidarity actions were arranged for occupied houses in Norway and Denmark, and TWP were responsible for some actions with great impact in Malmö, e.g., when the former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, visited Malmö to participate in a seminar, and demonstrations forced him to leave through the back door.

It is also probable that many TWP activists took part in actions that they did not wish to put in writing. In an interview with two members of TWP's inner circle, Lasse and Tim, they admit that this was certainly the case for them, not least because they were very active in hiding refugees who were threatened with deportation.

We had a group that only hid refugees, more or less. But it wasn't something you could put in writing; it was more word of mouth.39

38 'TOTALFEST' (1989) *Vinterpalatsets arkiv*, vol. 1, mapp A. ARA. 39 Interview with Lasse and Tim.

**Picture 5.3** Flyer from 'The Winter Palace' in Malmö (*Photo* The Labour Movements's Archive in Skåne)

Other issues also required quiet action:

At that time, there were anti-Shell campaigns, campaigns against Israel, a lot that happened that could never be addressed in meetings.40

Thus, it is not entirely fair to assume that cultural activities took all the focus of TWP during their years of activity.

#### Relation to the Outside World

Where should we place the Winter Palace community politically? According to their own minutes and interviews, they were an anarchist association. But they also had close connections with the syndicalists in Malmö. During TWP's final year, the association's later magazine

40 Interview with Lasse and Tim.

*The Phantom of the Palace* was published in cooperation with the Malmö Syndicalist Association's members' magazine. At the same time, TWP seems to have had a fairly open and welcoming attitude toward newcomers and visitors, as long as they shared their basic values. In 1987, a TWP activist interviewed in *Magazin April* stated:

We are deeply political, without being either party politicians or -ism preachers. -ism preaching always creates contradictions on unnecessary grounds. You stare blindly at your own -ism and reject everything else with a one-sidedness that makes collaboration on individual issues completely impossible, because you are stuck in discussions about Marx, Bakunin, and what would happen after the revolution. What do you mean "after the revolution"? It's about the here and now.41