Vi ville bara ha ett plejs för sånna som oss : Exploring the Swedish Punk Movement in Two Swedish Newspapers 1978-1980

Sammanfattning: In 1920s Sweden the concept of Folkhemmet was born and described as a concept and an idea of the modern Swedish well-fare state where the nation was considered a family. Through governmental founding, a new modern Sweden was planned. The first suburbs was introduced in 1930 and the 1950s the next project was finished, the so-called ABC-staden (ABC-town in English). One of the suburbs belonging to the ABC-town project was Rågsved, a place which is associated with the Swedish punk movement and the cultural association of Oasen. In 1965 the next building project was introduced, now called Miljonprogrammet. Miljonprogrammet became criticized for being a constant working place and isolating citizens in the suburbs, leading to segregation. A furthermore consequence of the segregation was when working-class families got a better economy and left the traditional apartment housing for newly produced town halls it opened for low-income families to move in. Meanwhile, the media framing of the suburb also began to change. The narrative of the suburb had previously been a hope for a bright better future for families to live in, but it later changed to be a place for criminality, under-employment, alcoholism, and substance abuse. Teenagers and young adults stuck at the bottom of the economic chain were affected worst by this change. This also occurred with the oil crisis in the late 1970s, making the end of the Swedish record years. The Swedish punk movement was introduced in 1976 inspired by the British and American punk scene. The movement established itself in the suburbs among young adults who did not feel like they were heard. The movement was, in difference to previous youth cultures, political which affected the message of the movement. In the capital of Stockholm, punk rockers found themselves wanting something more, a place outside the centre of the city where they all could have a place to be. This project later resulted in the cultural association of Oasen in Rågsved. In 1979 after the city council of Vantör decided to throw out the association they answered by occupying the locale. They demanded a place to feel at home in the suburb they lived in. This thesis is discussing the modern Swedish suburb using the Swedish punk movement as a historic example. The thesis’s theoretical framework focuses on intersectionality, place, space, and journalistic framing.