{"id":12,"date":"2018-10-30T16:06:47","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T16:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2025-09-22T13:51:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T13:51:38","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/?page_id=12","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>My research has consistently engaged with processes of urban transformation, civil society, and collective action, with an emphasis on the interaction between space, politics, and activism. During my doctoral studies, I focused on post-socialist urban transformations in Poland, analyzing gated communities and fenced residential areas as expressions of residential segregation. By linking historical legacies with economic, cultural and institutional factors, I demonstrated how legislation and housing policies produced this housing trend. This work contributed both theoretically and empirically to housing research, offering new insights into residential segregation in post-socialist Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, my scholarship has expanded to combine civil society studies, social movement research, and participatory methodologies, still with an urban focus. I have investigated informal and radical forms of urban activism that fall outside the conventional definitions of \u201ccivil society\u201d and \u201csocial movements,\u201d which usually prioritize professionalized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as representative actors. By contrast, my work focuses on excluded forms of collective action\u2014grassroots mobilizations, spontaneous activism, and everyday urban struggles\u2014and challenges dominant methodological conventions that keep researchers at a distance from their subjects. Instead, when possible, I employ participatory and collaborative methods to produce knowledge with communities, ensuring that research findings are relevant both academically and socially.<\/p>\n<p>My main research interests can be summarized in three themes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Privatization of urban spaces: gentrification, displacement and the role of housing<\/li>\n<li>Urban social movements: squatting, tenants\u2019 mobilizations and the right to the city<\/li>\n<li>Civil society and non-traditional civic engagement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-85\" src=\"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/stop-gentrification.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"331\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/stop-gentrification.png 331w, https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/stop-gentrification-300x237.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/>Empirically I have conducted studies in Poland and Sweden. I am interested in how cultural and political contexts are conditioning the emergence and development of particular protests and movements, and above all in the motivations and practices behind these mobilizations. In the part of my research that deals with post-socialist societies, I have demonstrated how civil society and activism in these contexts must be understood against the backdrop of contested histories and path-dependent institutional environments. This research has challenged often simplistic views of post-socialist activism and has gained strong international visibility. Currently, I lead an international multidisciplinary research program (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sustainaction.org\/\">www.sustainaction.org<\/a>) on the resilience and resourcefulness of civil society in post-socialist Europe, with case studies in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and beyond. The program aims to advance conceptualizations of collective action under crisis conditions while contributing to debates within sociology, human geography, social work, and ethnography, particularly around participatory and ethical research methodologies.<\/p>\n<p>In parallel, I have developed a significant body of research on housing and urban struggles in Sweden. This strand of my work addresses urban squatting, tenants\u2019 rights, renovation-driven displacement (\u201crenovictions\u201d), and housing policy. I have documented how housing activism and tenants\u2019 organizing contest market-driven housing transformations, thereby expanding established research on civil society and collective resistance. This research critically challenges prevailing conceptualizations of social movements and civil society, while also interrogating the role of academic knowledge production itself.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Read more about the research projects I am\/have been part of<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Sustaining Civil Society in the Context of Multiple Crises: Hubs of Engagement in Central and Eastern Europe and Sweden<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(\u00d6stersj\u00f6stiftelsen 2023-2028, PI: Dominika V. Polanska)<\/p>\n<p>This project sets out to comparatively analyse civil society\u2019s resilience and resourcefulness in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Czechia and Sweden. It starts with examining the genealogies of the existing local\/national\/global crises, which include issues related to the economy, housing, the climate, food, the pandemic and gender equality, and focuses on analysing how people respond to these crises collectively. We ask: How does civic action emerge and develop over time in the face of multiple crises and exclusions? How do activists manage to (re)kindle and sustain civic engagement, how do they build multiscalar solidarities under adverse conditions, and how does this transform their life-stories and affective responses? How alliances, cooperation and central relationships are built in contemporary civil societies, with whom and what role these relationships play? What can we learn about the emergence and development mechanisms of mobilisation and civic actions from comparisons of differential patterns and interconnected trajectories? To capture the structural conditions as well as collective dynamics and individual levels of activism, we propose the concept of \u201chubs of engagement\u201d as an analytical tool, which allows us to bring these dimensions together. Our methodological framework is qualitative and comparative, drawing on the approach of critical participatory action research, triangulating archival research, interviews, observations, online material, and visual maps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>PAST research projects<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibf.uu.se\/research\/current-research\/tillsammans-f-r-h-llbara-alternativ-i-en-tid-av-kris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Searching for Sustainable Alternatives in Times of Crisis<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong>(FORMAS 2018-2023, PI: Dominika V. Polanska)<\/p>\n<p>The aim of this project is to discuss housing alternatives in relation to the provision of socially sustainable housing\u00a0and, crucially, to assess the viability of said alternatives. The project will focus on identifying and examining\u00a0socially sustainable alternatives from the perspectives of class and gender. We will focus on three core dimensions\u00a0of housing provision: tenure forms, housing construction and housing finance. Through engaging with a variety of\u00a0key stakeholders, we seek to interrogate the socio-economic, political and legal challenges currently facing\u00a0residents with the aim of elaborating pathways towards a more socially sustainable and equitable system of\u00a0housing, and a more stable, inclusive, and just housing future for all in Sweden. This will be the first major\u00a0research project that will systematically examine sustainable housing alternatives in Sweden.\u00a0The project seeks to; 1) answer the broad call for changes that are increasingly articulated in Sweden; 2)\u00a0understand which alternative tenure, construction and finance models could be implemented in Sweden by\u00a0creating a deeper understanding of said alternatives, and also by analysing them in relation to gender and class;\u00a03) question the existing hegemony of the Swedish housing regime, exactly by introducing such alternatives; and\u00a04) contribute to participatory action research methodology by including stakeholders in the co-production of\u00a0knowledge within the project.<\/p>\n<p>______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><b>Displacement and renoviction in housing renewal processes in Sweden \u2013 an intersectional feminist perspective<br \/>\n<\/b>(FORMAS 2018-2020, PI: Irene Molina)<\/p>\n<p>From a gender intersectional perspective, this project will address displacement and renoviction in Sweden caused\u00a0by currently unregulated housing renewal. An important theoretical perspective is the feminist intersectional\u00a0perspective. Previous research has failed in covering the perspective of tenants during renovation processes and\u00a0the perspective of women, who are the hardest hit by the changes on the housing market, though they have\u00a0historically been key actors in mobilization against renoviction. Furthermore, the project aims to contribute to\u00a0integrate gendered knowledge on housing and housing renewal to future policies and regulation. Both quantitative\u00a0and qualitative methods will be used. Starting with a statistical national mapping, migration patterns of the\u00a0residents of the renewed areas will be followed. These patterns will be analysed intersectionally, considering\u00a0variables of gender, age, national background, and socio-economic variables. Among the qualitative methods\u00a0used there will be in depth and semi-structured individual interviews, structured interviews with informants, focus\u00a0groups, observations of meetings and analysis of documents. C rucial for the launching of this project is the\u00a0participation of stakeholders. The project will finally suggest the terms necessary for a gender sensitive as well as\u00a0resident keen process of housing and neighbourhood renewal, avoiding renoviction and the reproduction of gender\u00a0imbalance in the sphere of residence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b>Renovation and participation: towards an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable Million Program?<br \/>\n<\/b>(FORMAS 2018-2022, PI: H\u00e5kan Th\u00f6rn)<br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<\/b>This project analyses tenants\u2019 participation in renovation of rental housing built in the period between 1960 and\u00a01975 in Sweden. Previous research indicates that tenant participation has a positive effect first and foremost on\u00a0social sustainability (by affecting affordability), and also to some extent on ecological sustainability, but so far no\u00a0systematic comparative research has been done. More specifically our aim is to investigate if and how, tenants\u2019\u00a0participation has an impact on the way the renovation programme fulfils sustainability goals 11 of the 2030\u00a0Agenda (Sustainable C ities and C ommunities).<br \/>\nOur main research questions include:<br \/>\n1. How are tenants invited to participate in renovation processes, and how are these dialogues organised?\u00a0To what extent and how do they involve conflicts between different stakeholders? Does the dialogue\u00a0influence the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the renovation, and, if so, in what ways?<br \/>\n2. How do tenants self-organise in order to influence renovation? How does this self-organisation relate to\u00a0formal dialogues organised by the estate owner? To what extent, how, do tenants\u2019 protests influence the\u00a0social, economic and ecological sustainability of the renovation, and, if so, in what ways?<br \/>\n3. To what extent and how are concerns based on class, gender, and ethnicity included in the renovation\u00a0process? How do these concerns influence the social, economic and ecological sustainability of the\u00a0renovations?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibf.uu.se\/research\/current-research\/squatting-and-urban-commons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Squatting and Urban Commons<\/a><br \/>\n<\/b>(2018-, with Miguel Mart\u00ednez)<\/p>\n<p>Is squatting a significant experience for promoting urban commons? We assume that a squatted Social Centre, squatted houses and squatting activists were the main actors or participated in an activist network that defended, produced or managed a specific urban common (e.g. local public services, goods, infrastructures, spaces and institutions&#8230; but its definition is open to discussion). This is a collective research process within SqEK (Squatting Everywhere Kollective) which deals with the politics of self-management (in other words &#8211; autonomy and self-organisation) as it is practised in squats inside out. We want to interrogate the achievements and limitations of self-management as it has been practiced by squatters and to gather interesting cases assessing the outcomes produced by urban activism\/movements in which squatting is a relevant feature. Therefore, both activists and academics could learn from the struggles in which squatting is concerned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This means we aim to analyse significant cases of \u201csuccess\u201d and \u201cfailure\u201d in the production of urban commons (according to the activists\u2019 and researchers\u2019 judgements and by taking into account different meanings, possibilities and types of \u201csuccess-failure\u201d) in order to learn from them. Both ongoing and past experiences can be included as cases. A significant involvement of activists in the research process, not as mere informants, is also crucial (i.e. bridging academia and activism).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sh.se\/p3\/ext\/content.nsf\/aget?openagent&amp;key=projekt_page_eng_1415619603365\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Challenging the myths of weak civil society in post-socialist settings<\/a><br \/>\n<\/b>(\u00d6stersj\u00f6stiftelsen 2014-2018, PI: Dominika V. Polanska)<\/p>\n<p>There are many gaps in the scientific literature on social movements dealing with housing\u00a0during state socialism and after the regime change. Along with the gaps, there are also\u00a0partly misleading views of the state of the civil society and social movements in postsocialist\u00a0settings. Studies on social movements and civil society mobilizations in the postsocialist\u00a0context tend to use tools and yardsticks developed in the West that applied on the\u00a0conditions in post-socialist societies result in misleading and outdated interpretations.\u00a0These interpretations have resulted in a conventional view of civil society and social\u00a0movement activity in post-socialist societies as \u201cweak\u201d, \u201cuncivil\u201d or suffering of<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201ccivilizational incompetence\u201d (Howard 2003; Kotkin 2010; Sztompka 2004). However, this\u00a0view on the functioning of civil society has recently been nuanced and new research\u00a0demonstrates that there are frequent mobilizations taking place in the post-socialist\u00a0countries that are either not taken into account, or misinterpreted due to the use of blunt\u00a0theoretical or methodological tools (Jacobsson &amp; Saxonberg 2013; Ekiert &amp; Kubik 2014;\u00a0Ekiert &amp; Foa 2012). The argument I would like to put forward in this project, by focusing on\u00a0Poland, is that there has been a thriving activity in the sphere of civil society and social\u00a0movements in the last decade that has been under-studied or studied with the help of\u00a0tools developed for other contexts. In the project I would like to show that the picture is more nuanced and that the assumptions on the lack of grassroots connections and the\u00a0dominance of friendship and family connections (and thus an inability to cooperate with\u00a0\u201cunknown\u201d others) in the collective action field are not fully adequate. This I will do by\u00a0studying previously under-studied social movements dealing with housing: the tenants\u2019\u00a0movement and the squatting movement in Poland, and how the two- rather diverse\u00a0movements- cooperate.<\/p>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sh.se\/p3\/ext\/content.nsf\/aget?openagent&amp;key=projekt_page_eng_1320073591636\">Institutional constraints and creative solutions: civil society in Poland in comparative perspective<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong>(Vetenskapsr\u00e5det 2011-2016, PI: Kerstin Jacobsson)<\/p>\n<p>For more info see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/civilsocietyinpoland.blogspot.com\/\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My research has consistently engaged with processes of urban transformation, civil society, and collective action, with an emphasis on the interaction between space, politics, and activism. During my doctoral studies, I focused on post-socialist urban transformations in Poland, analyzing gated communities and fenced residential areas as expressions of residential segregation. By linking historical legacies with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"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=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845,"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominikavpolanska.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}