Lund's Anarchist Group () was a Swedish

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

organization, founded in 1969 in the city of

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. Its ideology was a mix of different streams of thought, including

green anarchism Green anarchism, also known as ecological anarchism or eco-anarchism, is an anarchist school of thought that focuses on ecology and environmental issues. It is an anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian form of radical environmentalism, which e ...

History

The group was formed in Spring of 1969 by two individuals using the pseudonyms ''Keddy'' and ''Kriss''. Preparations for the founding had begun the previous year. Many new members soon joined, and the group began holding regular meetings in Lund's Book Café and the "AF Castle" in Lundagård, the Academic Association's building. It was part of a wave of newly formed anarchist groups in Sweden, formed in the wake of the

May 1968 events in France May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

and the world-wide

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

- others were created in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, and

Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...

. The group published ''Lund's Free Press'' (). Activities were centered around a housing collective on Trädgårdsgatan, where reprints of classic anarchist literature were published. The heavily activistic Anarchist Group was involved in a large number of actions, gaining influence despite its relatively low number of members. Activities that the organization was involved in include - among others - three

occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment * Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, t ...

for the establishment of an all-activity community center,

prisoner support Prisoner support encompasses a variety of activities aimed a providing assistance to prisoners, particularly political prisoners. Many programs devoted to this purpose have quite limited resources; for instance, Nottingham Black Prisoner Support, w ...

, protests against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime, opposition to the annual nationalistic

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

March, and various environmental campaigns. The group also participated in several

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...

campaigns, including

opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...

and opposition to the system of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. Its most well-known involvement was in a campaign against the political psychiatric system, especially an attack on 30 January 1970 when the Forensic Psychiatric Clinic in Lund was burnt down just prior to its opening.

Dissolution

Lund's Anarchist Group remained active until 1973, when it together with MUSK (''Malmö Ungsocialistiska Klubb'') in connection to the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

that year published the comic book ''Valhoppet'' and a politically themed deck of playing cards, the ''De Löjliga Partierna'' ("The Silly Parties"). Soon after that the group splintered. Many members were caught up in the "Green Wave" of radical

counterurbanization Counterurbanization, Ruralization or deurbanization is a demographic and social process in which people move from urban areas to rural areas. It, as suburbanization, is inversely related to urbanization, and first occurs as a reaction to inner-c ...

during the 1970s in Sweden.

References

{{reflist Anarchist organizations in Sweden 1969 establishments in Sweden 1973 disestablishments in Sweden Organizations established in 1969 Organizations disestablished in 1973 Defunct anarchist organizations in Europe 1960s establishments in Malmöhus County

History

Dissolution

See also

References