Autonomous mobility justice in the situated Finnish context: A Foucauldian perspective on technology, power, and morality

Abstract

Arguably the most powerful artifact of the 20th century, the private car brought profound spatial, social, and cultural changes, as well as wide-ranging mobility justice implications. Autonomous mobility technologies, with the power to supplant part or all of the action of the driver by collecting and processing large quantities of fine grained data, promise to shift power away from users to engineers and create new important spatial and social implications for mobility justice, of which little are known. This research draws from Foucauldian conceptualizations adapted for the study of geographies of power to investigate how autonomous mobility technology may diagram spatial rationalities and moralities into the built environment. To that effect, it draws from 30 interviews of intermediaries in Finland–a country actively pursuing a transition to automated and shared mobility as part of an ICT-driven innovation policy. Examining autonomous mobility through a Foucauldian lens helps highlight the complex power relations it affords–in terms of changes in social structure and infrastructure, and social justice. By shedding light on how technology may structure the built environment, the Foucauldian perspective shows itself to be a valuable tool for planning and policymaking, providing insight into how autonomous mobility (in)justice may be assembled.