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Det krävs en bred och oberoende analys av experter med olika kompetens. Låt den oberoende forskningen vid svenska lärosäten vara med och bidra med kunskap i syfte att öka sannolikheten för att den har typen av investeringar i framtiden ska bli lyckade ur ett klimat, samhällsekonomiskt, demokratiskt och socialt hållbart perspektiv

Regeringens ointresse för människors livsvillkor i kämpande kommuner riskerar att underminera tron på den gröna omställningen, skriver tre forskare.

Using a broad range of materials (media and interviews), we analyse the development of three green megaprojects in the two northernmost regions of Sweden. We find support for the presence of a strong ideological fantasy tied to a few “green heroes”, supporting the notion that the investments are the ultimate answer not only to climate crisis but also to the territory’s perceived left-behindness. The symbolic construction of the fantasy also contributes to the production of killjoys through marginalizing and feminizing opposition to the megaprojects. Our analysis thereby points to the importance of a feminist intervention and critique of the neoliberal ideology that frames green megaprojects.

This research note contains an update of the research program “A promised land? Drivers, challenges and opportunities related to the (green) industrialization of Northern Sweden,” (nr. M22-0029) awarded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond’s in 2022. The document summarizes work in progress and is updated annually in different versions according to the requirements of the program. 

This interdisciplinary program aims to understand the economic, social, and political challenges and opportunities of the ongoing industrial transformation in northern Sweden. A key element of the program is to identify drivers, obstacles, and preconditions in a historical, present, and forward-looking process-perspective. 

This article utilizes news media representations to scrutinize the symbolic construction and legitimizing support for green megaprojects, with a particular focus on Northvolt’s battery factory in Skellefteå, Sweden. The study reveals that the media portrayed the project as crucial for local development, driven by Northvolt’s explicit competition, Sweden’s national ambition to lead in green technology, and a neoliberal agenda for regional economic growth. These narratives, deeply rooted in ideological fantasies about the implications of such a megaproject for a small, struggling community, effectively suppressed concerns about colonialism, environmental risks, and indigenous rights. The media’s emphasis on perceived benefits overshadowed potential risks, prompting questions about the long-term impact of such projects on local communities and the environment. The article argues that while these investments are framed as opportunities for progress, they may perpetuate historical patterns of exploitation and overlook critical socio-environmental issues.

This article examines the concepts of "housing risk" and "responsibilisation," and their impact on housing inclusion for refugees in a northern Swedish municipality. The interviews reveal that local policies often fail to recognize the welfare state’s responsibility to ensure housing for refugees, instead shifting this burden to social workers, individuals, and informal networks. Social workers face ethical dilemmas in balancing their roles as defenders of housing rights and extensions of the welfare state. The findings suggest that the discursive framing of refugees as "risky objects" reflects an ideology that discourages their long‐term settlement and silences housing inequality. Consequently, managing refugees' housing risks through responsibilisation practices, rather than addressing systemic inequalities and national political failures, risks backfiring. The study calls for a reevaluation of housing policies by acknowledging housing inequalities and incorporating social workers' insights and local conditions outside metropolitan areas.

This document lays out the background for the research program “A promised land? Drivers, challenges and opportunities related to the (green) industrialization of Northern Sweden,” (nr. M22-0029) awarded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond’s in 2022. The document summarizes work in progress and may therefore be updated and republished in different versions according to the requirements of the program. 

This interdisciplinary program aims to understand the economic, social, and political challenges and opportunities of the ongoing industrial transformation in northern Sweden. A key element of the program is to identify drivers, obstacles, and preconditions in a historical, present, and forward-looking process-perspective. 

In depictions of the Swedish welfare regime, there is a belief concerning the existence of a strong link between the universalism of rights and residency. But with tougher migration laws, temporary and time-limited residence permits, the settlement of different groups and access to housing and other social rights have been made more difficult. Public housing is often used as a means of providing housing for refugees, where time-limited subletting contracts are frequently used, writing off tenants’ rights to possession. While there is a strong tradition of universal public rental housing without means testing in the Swedish housing supply, the institutional practices of housing provision for refugees deviate from universal features. In this paper, we examine the outcome of housing provision for refugees in one municipal setting. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with 19 officials and politicians about arguments and justifications concerning the housing practices in use. The analysis also includes interviews with 11 refugees with varying immigration status, focusing on their experiences of housing solutions and tenant rights. Our results show that the municipal responsibility to provide housing for refugees reciprocates immigration control, which produces not only variation in fulfilment of decent housing, but also differential inclusion based on a locally practised categorization of housing rights.

I skildringar av den svenska välfärdsstaten beskrivs ofta en stark koppling mellan principer om universella rättigheter och uppehållstillstånd. Men i och med skärpta migrationslagar med bland annat tillfälliga och tidsbegränsade uppehållstillstånd, försvåras olika gruppers bosättning och andra sociala rättigheter. De kommunala allmännyttiga bostadsföretagen används ofta som sätt att möta bostadsförsörjningsansvaret för nyanlända flyktingar, då med tidsbegränsade andrahandskontrakt utan besittningsrätt.  Så samtidigt som det finns en stark tradition av allmännyttiga hyresbostäder utan behovsprövning i svensk bostadsförsörjning, avviker den institutionella praxisen för bostadsförsörjning till nyanlända från universella drag. I den här artikeln undersöker vi resultatet av bostadsförsörjningen för flyktingar i en kommun. Vår studie bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer av tjänstemän och politiker om argument för och motiveringar av den boendepraxis som används (totalt 30 intervjuer). I analysen ingår även intervjuer med 11 flyktingar med varierande flyktingstatus om deras erfarenheter av boendelösningar och hyresgästrättigheter. Vårt resultat visar att det kommunala ansvaret att tillhandahålla bostäder till flyktingar blir den del av migrationskontrollen, vilket inte bara ger en variation av uppfyllandet av anständiga bostäder, utan också en differentiell inkludering baserad på en lokalt praktiserad kategorisering av bostadsrättigheter.