I am a Professor in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences at Södertörn University.
I examined gated communtities and their growing popularity in Poland in my dissertation (in Sociology, 2011). In my research I have focused on social movements working with housing related issues in Central and Eastern Europe (mainly Poland), but also in Sweden. My research interests encompass: urban social movements, extra-parliamentary activism, squatting, tenants’ mobilizations, informal organization, and non-traditional forms of civic engagement.
My research has revolved around how renoviction (a form of gentrification) affects residents in Sweden and I have been especially interested in different forms of resistance among tenants. Between 2018- 2023 I led a project on socially sustainable housing policy where I together with colleagues at Uppsala and Stockholm University was analyzing Swedish housing policy and alternatives for a more socially sustainable housing system. I have also been involved in two other research projects (2018-2022) on extensive housing renewal in several Swedish cities.
Between 2023-2028, I am leading an international research project that studies how people act collectively in times of crisis, involving Sweden, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia. The project studies what sustains collective action and what role crises play. You can read more about the project at: www.sustainaction.org.
● Education
31/05/2011 PhD in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
2005 Master of Arts, Department of Sociology, Södertörn University, Sweden
2003 Master of Arts, Department of Ethnology, Södertörn University, Sweden
● Current position
2025 – ongoing Professor, Department of Social work, Södertörn University, Sweden
● Previous position(s)
2019 – 2025 Senior Lecturer, Department of Social work, Södertörn University, Sweden
2020 – 2022 Researcher at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, Sweden
2015 – 2020 Research fellow at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University
2014 – 2015 Researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
2012 – 2014 Postdoc at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University
2011 – 2012 Researcher, Department of Sociology, Södertörn University, Sweden
2011 – 2011 Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Södertörn University, Sweden
2006 – 2011 Doctoral student, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University & Baltic and East European Graduate School at Södertörn University, Sweden
● Research grants
• Östersjöstiftelsen, 24.4 million SEK, 2023-2028, “Sustaining Civil Society in the Context of Multiple Crises”, principal investigator (PI).
• STINT, 545 thousand SEK, 2019-2023, Joint Brazilian-Swedish Research Collaboration on “Urban Struggles for the Right to the City and Urban Commons in Brazil and Europe”, principal investigator together with Miguel Martínez (PI).
• Formas, 5.9 million SEK, 2018-2023, “Searching for sustainable alternatives in a time of crisis”, principal investigator (PI).
• Östersjöstiftelsen, 1.9 million SEK, 2014-2020, “Challenging the myths of weak civil society in post-socialist settings: ‘Unexpected’ alliances and mobilizations in the field of housing activism in Poland”, principal investigator (PI).
• Formas, 6.6 million SEK, 2018-2022, “Renovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program?”, fellow applicant, PI: Håkan Thörn.
• Formas, 5.9 million SEK, 2018-2020, “Displacement and renoviction in housing renewal processes in Sweden – an intersectional feminist perspective”, fellow applicant, PI: Irene Molina.
• Swedish Research Council (VR), 6.6 million SEK, 2014-2018, “The Social Mechanisms of Creating Memberless Civil Society Organizations in Poland, Russia and Sweden”, fellow applicant, PI: Apostolis Papakostas.
• KK-Stiftelsen, 32 million SEK, 2016-2019, “Att återskapa förorten i fragmenterade landskap [Reconstructing suburbs in fragmented landscapes], fellow applicant, PI: Apostolis Papakostas.
• Swedish Research Council (VR), 12.8 million SEK, 2011-2016, “Institutional constraints and creative solutions: Civil society in Poland in comparative perspective”, fellow applicant, PI: Kerstin Jacobsson.
● Editorial leadership
– Guest editor (with S. Tsenkova, 2014) of Geojournal special issue on housing policy reforms in post-socialist Europe — contributing to internationalising research on post-socialist housing systems and providing a platform for understanding the long-term social consequences of marketisation, privatisation, and welfare restructuring in the region.
– Guest editor (with M. A. Martínez, 2016) of Baltic Worlds special section “Squatting in the East” — which seeded the squatting research agenda in Central and Eastern Europe.
– Guest editor (with K. Valenzuela-Fuentes and A. Kaun, 2019) of the Housing Studies themed collection “Housing activism: overlooked forms, practices and implications” — broadening housing studies by highlighting under-researched forms of housing activism across diverse contexts.
– Guest editor (with K. Valenzuela-Fuentes and A. Kaun, 2017) of the Interface special issue “The right to housing in theory and in practice: going beyond the West” — broadening debates on the right to housing by challenging the dominance of Western European and North American perspectives in housing activism research.
– Co-editor (with M. A. Martínez, 2020) of the Partecipazione e Conflitto special issue “Squatting and Urban Commons” — advancing theoretical and empirical debates on the relationship between squatting and commoning, while fostering dialogue between social movement studies, urban studies, and critical housing research.
● Prizes and awards
Here are two important prizes I have been awarded:
• 2017, Highly Commended Award by the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
This award is part of the annual Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, selecting papers for making a significant and notable contribution to the literature in their respective fields. The awarded article was: Polanska D.V., Chimiak G. (2016). Organizing without organizations: on informal social activism in Poland. IJSSP, 36, (9-10), 662–679.
• 2022, Ulf Bodach Söderström prize
I was awarded this prize in recognition of the societal impact of my research on housing and urban inequalities, particularly its contribution to national public debate in Sweden. The prize highlights research that successfully bridges academia and policy. As part of the award, I was invited to the Swedish Parliament to present my work, reflecting its relevance for policymakers and its influence beyond academia.
● Other contributions to the research community
I have also undertaken a wide range of academic service assignments that contribute to maintaining quality and standards in research and higher education. These include roles in dissertation examination committees and as faculty reviewer across multiple (national and international) universities, as well as peer review and evaluation work for international funding bodies, fellowships, recruitment and promotion processes, academic publishers, and conferences. I have furthermore contributed expert input to policy processes, including Swedish government inquiries and international housing advocacy organisations.