Accessing Housing : How the political-economy of Sweden’s Housing Market impacts the accessibility for marginalized groups in Malmö

Sammanfattning: Under urban neoliberal policies, housing has become a vehicle for wealth accumulation, detached from its social function, leading to a shortage of adequate and affordable housing. The lack of adequate housing is perceived as an issue of availability. This prevailing perspective dismisses the systematic character of the housing issue and fails to take into account greater questions about power, inequality, and justice in capitalist societies. The purpose of this case study of Malmö is to problematize the access to housing for marginalized groups in the broader frame of the political and economic structures of Sweden’s housing market. The research adopts a qualitative case study design based on 22 semi-structured interviews. The findings answer the research question how is access to the housing market in Malmö limited for marginalized groups? and will be placed within the framework of The Radical Right to Housing and the context of Sweden’s political-economy. Based on the results this research argues that despite limited accessibility mostly shows in economic disadvantage for the marginalized groups, it is caused by Sweden’s social, political and economic structures. Highlighting that housing is a political-economic problem, deeply embedded within class structures, gender, age, ethnicity and other power dimensions. In the broader context of demanding a radical right to housing, the results show that it requires a transformation of Sweden’s political-economic structures. Regarding a decommodification of housing, a transformation of capitalism and transformative changes in state action concerning immigration, education, and active gender equality policies. Thereby, housing could serve as a tool to create more equality in cities by addressing and fighting the structures of class society, gender, age, ethnicity and other power dimensions.