Books

My first book Strike Back! A guide to Self-Defence for Women (Slå tillbaka! En handbok i självförsvar för kvinnor) was published in 1993, followed by a revised version in 1998 and later in paperback in 2006. The book covers the basics of the self-defence programme I developed during my time as an instructor in self-defence. 

Coming to Terms with the Very Worst (Att komma till ro med det allra värsta), published in 1996 and as a paperback a few years later, is a personal memoir about the murder of my mother. World Literature Today appreciated the "amazingly restrained and at times almost dispassionate prose" and found it to be a "very moving and passionate tale about all mothers and daughters". For the full review, click here. 

My third book, Porn, Whores and Feminists (Porr, horor och feminister) was published in 2006. It is considered the fullest and most authoritative analysis of Swedish prostitution policy to date, and was lauded in Sweden as the best non-fiction book of the year – "a unique and significant book that raises important questions about the nature of freedom and sexuality". The book is currently in the process of undergoing English translation, aided by crowdfunding, and will be published as an open source project. For more information, click here. 

For my fourth book, the anthology The F-word: Towards a New Feminism. (F-ordet. Mot en ny feminism), published in 2008 and then in paperback in 2009, I asked a number of writers and academics to address common feminist issues in uncommon ways. The anthology received overwhelmingly appreciative reviews and was praised for its ability to "provoke the reader to think, react, process, reflect and laugh – and never be bored". A less favourable review described the book as "feminism in a circus version" - an epithet I carry with pride.  

In my fifth book Esmara's Tale (Berättelsen om Esmara), published in 2010 and in paperback in 2011, I returned to creative writing to introduce the fictional character Esmara Rova, whom, like myself, was exposed to early trauma and has her roots in Tornedalia in the north of Sweden. It is the first novel of a trilogy. Critics, somewhat surprised at the shift in my writing style as now anchored in a more popular genre of fiction, still concluded that my "glamorous chic-lit has a bite and a good handle on language" and dubbed it "Dallas meets Tornedalia", alluding to the popular TV-series. Someone also reflected that "the boy-meets-girl saga becomes a whole new story in the queer hands of Östergren".

Aside from my doctoral thesis 'The Swedish Sex Purchase Ban: Ethnography of a Law', I have been working on a book about anarchism, in which I attempt to understand why the libertarian socialist tradition in Sweden has been so weak. I return to the classic anarchists, whilst simultaneously becoming acquainted with modern anarchist writings, all in an ambitious effort to invigorate the Swedish political-intellectual debate on these issues.