ABSTRACT
In spring 2015 an initiative called ‘feminist urban planning’ emerged among a group of women in Husby, a large-scale residential suburb of Stockholm marked by economic disadvantage and racial segregation but also noted for its level of civic engagement.
Based on an ethnographic exploration of the initiative, participant observation of five workshops, qualitative interviews undertaken with four of the women involved in them and an exploration of related media discourse, this chapter attempts to respond to the question: What feminisms were expressed, embodied and practised within the ‘feminist urban planning’ initiative between spring 2015 and spring 2016?
Drawing on intersectional theory, specifically the concept of ‘hegemonic feminism’ as elaborated by Paulina de los Reyes and Diana Mulinari, which emphasises the plurality of feminist perspectives and the hierarchy among them, I will argue that a specific feminist perspective came to dominate the workshop series and the events surrounding it.
The chapter concludes with a reflection on what critically engaged architectural practices could learn from this case, and with the question: How can space be made for a more polyphonic discourse on ‘feminist urban planning’?
