Meningsskapande kring hem och plats: unga kvinnors erfarenheter av bostadsmarknaden

Sammanfattning: The aim of the thesis is to analyse young women's experiences of housing in contemporary Sweden and the meanings they give to the place called ‘home’. Eleven women, aged 20-28, were interviewed with focus on the experiences of moving away from the parental home. Experiences and symbolic meanings of places are analysed using the concept ‘sense of place’, meaning that the individual creates its identity by making sense of social, cultural, economic and geographical circumstances as well as relations of power. The theoretical framework is founded on a dialectical understanding of place, where physical and discursive aspects are interlaced. It is also based on feminist theory regarding the concept of ‘home’ and of intersecting power relations. Four main themes are identified through the analysis; "Residence and housing", "domestic work and the division of labour", "‘sense of place’ and boundaries" and "(in)security and place". The analysis shows the meaning of ‘home’ as linked to both inequality and to a place of refuge. Different strategies and positions are identified in the young women's accounts that both obscures power relations as well as indicate agency and subversion. The analysis also emphasizes the importance of how material and social resources shapes possibilities regarding housing and the creation of a ‘sense of place’.