”Keep your head up high närsamhället sviker” : - Ungas organisering ur ett postkolonialt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: This study aims to examine the driving factors behind youth organizing in Swedish urban outskirts, known as ’förorten’. The national organization Förenade Förorter, which acts as a platform for local youth organizations located in ’förorten’, serves as a case to illustrate the connection between experiences of racism, autonomous self-organizing and political influence. The study is based on interviews with representatives of these local youth organizations as well as the central organization. The material is analyzed through a theoretical framework of postcolonial theory and theories of democratic participation and representation, using the policy-analysis tool What’s the problem represented to be combined with the ACTIE-model used to contextualize community initiatives. The study concludes that structural racism serves as the main reason behind the founding of Förenade Förorter and its member organizations. The organizing can be described as a decolonizing strategy, where knowledge, experiences and practices are shared between the people involved in the network in order to deal with a society incapable of providing equal opportunity for all. The network serves as a platform for agency and collective strength while building structures to challenge existing democratic institutions - by being more democratic.