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"Algotssömmerskorna" blev en viktig symbol för kvinnokampen och andra solidariska kamper under 1970-talet, men hur framställs de och denna symboliska relation i olika former av historieskrivning? Genom att synliggöra lokala berättelser om makt och motstånd och kontrastera dem mot den feministiska kampens kollektiva minne, vill Overud problematisera kvinnokampens unisona "vi". This article focuses on the seamstresses at Algots in their struggle for their jobs at Algots Nord textile industries in rural localizations in the Swedish north (West Bothnia) in 1972. The textile company Algots Nord (a subsidiary to Algot Johansson AB) had factories in Skellefteå, Norsjö and Lycksele. This localization implied labor market participation among women who had not previously held paid employment. After just a few years, bankruptcy was announced, and all three northern factories had to close. The downturn, followed by protests and demonstrations, were at center of societal debates. A solidarity movement comprising loosely organized individual and collective initiatives was formed. The purpose of this article is to study the writing of the history of the seamstresses at Algots and show its symbolic position in relation to the women's movement. I want to make visible local stories about experiences of power and set them against the collective memory of the feminist movement. I show how the seamstresses at Algots become a symbol for many solidarity groups. How did the seamstresses become a concept for the women's movement? Is it possible to talk about a unified "we," a struggle on equal terms, in the case of the seamstresses at Algots? Are there challenging notions and conflicting stories? How can one explain a group's collective memory of one or more events that have helped to shape and define history? An important point here is how groups can form a symbolic content that has a function to retain the group's collective memory.

Gällivare is a remote city in the middle of the northern Swedish wilderness. The city was established as iron ore was found in the ground just over a century ago. Until the 60's the mining industry and the city grew together in what seemed to be a perfect symbiosis. But as times changed and the industry had to adapt to a globalized market and bigger production volumes, the symbiosis was broken. The mines started expanding at a much higher speed, and the same industry that once founded the city is now threatening its whole existence. The last decades have been a story of destruction and relocations. The problems of dealing with destruction and relocating people have overshadowed the needs for visions and dreams. Experts from all over the world have gathered to solve the situation. The first step will be to build a knowledge center for cities in movement. Gällivare offers a very rare context. Most of the moving cities of the world are moved within a short period of time, while Gällivare is moving step by step every year. Many moving cities are actually disappearing as the inhabitants are forced to move, which makes documentation and research very difficult. Gällivare offers the opportunity to take part of the whole process, from planning to relocation. The knowledge center is the starting point for the visionary work of transforming Gällivare.