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<\/a><\/p>\nI am a Professor in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences at S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u25cf Education\u00a0<\/strong> \u25cf Current position<\/strong> \u25cf Previous position(s)<\/strong> \u25cf Research grants\u00a0<\/strong> \u25cf Editorial leadership\u00a0<\/strong> \u25cf Prizes and awards<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are two important prizes I have been awarded: \u25cf Other contributions to the research community<\/strong> I am a Professor in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences at S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":85,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n31\/05\/2011\u00a0 PhD in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
\n2005 \u00a0 \u00a0 Master of Arts, Department of Sociology, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden
\n2003 \u00a0 \u00a0 Master of Arts, Department of Ethnology, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden<\/p>\n
\n2025 – ongoing Professor, Department of Social work, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden<\/p>\n
\n2019 – 2025 Senior Lecturer, Department of Social work, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden
\n2020 – 2022 Researcher at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University, Sweden
\n2015 – 2020 Research fellow at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University
\n2014 – 2015 Researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
\n2012 – 2014 Postdoc at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University
\n2011 – 2012 Researcher, Department of Sociology, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden
\n2011 – 2011 Lecturer, Department of Sociology, S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden
\n2006 – 2011 Doctoral student, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University & Baltic and East European Graduate School at S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University, Sweden<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 \u00d6stersj\u00f6stiftelsen, 24.4 million SEK, 2023-2028, \u201cSustaining Civil Society in the Context of Multiple Crises\u201d, principal investigator (PI).
\n\u2022 STINT, 545 thousand SEK, 2019-2023, Joint Brazilian-Swedish Research Collaboration on \u201cUrban Struggles for the Right to the City and Urban Commons in Brazil and Europe\u201d, principal investigator together with Miguel Mart\u00ednez (PI).
\n\u2022 Formas, 5.9 million SEK, 2018-2023, \u201cSearching for sustainable alternatives in a time of crisis\u201d, principal investigator (PI).
\n\u2022 \u00d6stersj\u00f6stiftelsen, 1.9 million SEK, 2014-2020, \u201cChallenging the myths of weak civil society in post-socialist settings: \u2018Unexpected\u2019 alliances and mobilizations in the field of housing activism in Poland\u201d, principal investigator (PI).
\n\u2022 Formas, 6.6 million SEK, 2018-2022, \u201cRenovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program?\u201d, fellow applicant, PI: H\u00e5kan Th\u00f6rn.
\n\u2022 Formas, 5.9 million SEK, 2018-2020, \u201cDisplacement and renoviction in housing renewal processes in Sweden \u2013 an intersectional feminist perspective\u201d, fellow applicant, PI: Irene Molina.
\n\u2022 Swedish Research Council (VR), 6.6 million SEK, 2014-2018, \u201cThe Social Mechanisms of Creating Memberless Civil Society Organizations in Poland, Russia and Sweden\u201d, fellow applicant, PI: Apostolis Papakostas.
\n\u2022 KK-Stiftelsen, 32 million SEK, 2016-2019, \u201cAtt \u00e5terskapa f\u00f6rorten i fragmenterade landskap [Reconstructing suburbs in fragmented landscapes], fellow applicant, PI: Apostolis Papakostas.
\n\u2022 Swedish Research Council (VR), 12.8 million SEK, 2011-2016, \u201cInstitutional constraints and creative solutions: Civil society in Poland in comparative perspective\u201d, fellow applicant, PI: Kerstin Jacobsson.<\/p>\n
\n– Guest editor (with S. Tsenkova, 2014) of Geojournal<\/em> special issue on housing policy reforms in post-socialist Europe \u2014 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.
\n– Guest editor (with M. A. Mart\u00ednez, 2016) of Baltic World<\/em>s special section \u201cSquatting in the East\u201d \u2014 which seeded the squatting research agenda in Central and Eastern Europe.
\n– Guest editor (with K. Valenzuela-Fuentes and A. Kaun, 2019) of the Housing Studies<\/em> themed collection \u201cHousing activism: overlooked forms, practices and implications\u201d \u2014 broadening housing studies by highlighting under-researched forms of housing activism across diverse contexts.
\n– Guest editor (with K. Valenzuela-Fuentes and A. Kaun, 2017) of the Interface<\/em> special issue \u201cThe right to housing in theory and in practice: going beyond the West\u201d \u2014 broadening debates on the right to housing by challenging the dominance of Western European and North American perspectives in housing activism research.
\n– Co-editor (with M. A. Mart\u00ednez, 2020) of the Partecipazione e Conflitto<\/em> special issue \u201cSquatting and Urban Commons\u201d \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 2017, Highly Commended Award by the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy<\/em>
\nThis 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\u2013679.
\n\u2022 2022, Ulf Bodach S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m prize<\/em>
\nI 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.<\/p>\n
\nI 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"