jordlösa

Jordlösa is a Swedish term meaning landless. It describes individuals or groups who do not have secure access to agricultural land, whether because they do not own land, rent under precarious terms, or lack stable farm tenancy rights. The concept is often used to discuss economic and social vulnerability tied to land ownership.

Historically, many agrarian societies concentrated land in the hands of a few, creating large numbers of jordlösa peasants and laborers who depended on wage work or short-term tenancies. In Sweden and other parts of Europe, changes in land tenure—from feudal structures toward freehold farming and revised tenancy laws—shaped the size and distribution of landholding and influenced rural livelihoods. The condition of being jordlös was closely linked to access to capital, security of tenure, and the ability to participate in the rural economy.

In scholarly contexts, jordlöshet is discussed in relation to agrarian economies, rural poverty, and labor mobility. The term emphasizes structural factors—land ownership patterns and tenancy arrangements—rather than individual characteristics. It is less common as a formal contemporary designation in policy discussions, where issues of land access are typically framed through broader concepts such as housing, poverty, and economic opportunity. The term should not be confused with homelessness, which in Swedish is more commonly described by terms like hemlös/hemlöshet.

Overall, jordlösa refers to a historical and sociological concept describing people without secure land ownership, whose status was shaped by the broader transformation of agrarian systems.