The emergence of labour utopias: Solidarity, visibility and agency in the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union strike

In 2003, the Swedish Municipal Workers’ Union (Kommunal) called a nationwide strike, demanding a pay rise for all members in the public sector. Drawing on oral history interviews with workplace representatives and local union officials, the article examines how the struggle enabled changes in subjectivity, generating utopian visions for increased visibility and agency for municipal workers. This process is analysed using Rick Fantasia’s concept ‘cultures of solidarity’, highlighting the strike’s prefigurative dimensions. The article suggests that the study of strike action is a unique opportunity to explore how utopian visions of more egalitarian labour relations emerge among workers.