Imaginaries of Road Transport Automation in Finnish Governance Culture - A Critical Discourse Analysis
Loading...
Access rights
openAccess
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
This publication is imported from Aalto University research portal.
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
View publication in the Research portal (opens in new window)
View/Open full text file from the Research portal (opens in new window)
Other link related to publication (opens in new window)
Authors
Date
2022-02-01
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
26
Series
Sustainability, Volume 14, issue 3
Abstract
As transport automation technology continues to emerge, there is a need to engage in the questions of its governing—to find a balance between unreflective enablement and rigid control. An increasing body of literature has begun to address the topic, but only a few studies have examined discourse and culture as central components of the related governance processes. This article aims to analyse the discourse surrounding self-driving vehicles in the Finnish context by drawing from the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. The critical discourse analysis framework is applied to study a comprehensive set of documents published by Finnish national-level governmental bodies from 2013 to 2020. The analysis identifies four imagined ways of implementing self-driving vehicles into the Finnish transport system and a large set of mostly positive anticipated implications. Moreover, the analysis illustrates the transport automation imaginary’s cultural and spatial detachment, most obvious in the lack of detail and the disconnection between the imagined implementations and the anticipated implications. The findings are convergent with findings from other governance contexts, where discourse has been largely characterised by an unjustified optimism and strong determinism related to the wedlock with the automobility regime. If left unaddressed, such lack of reflectivity will not just lead to a plethora of undesired implications for Finnish society at large but will also signify a failure in developing an adaptive governance culture needed to face challenges of the 21st century.Description
| openaire: EC/H2020/856602/EU//FINEST TWINS
Keywords
transport governance, transport policy, imaginary, document analysis, automated vehicle, self-driving vehicle, emerging technology, mobility as a service, Finland
Other note
Citation
Olin, J & Mladenović, M 2022, ' Imaginaries of Road Transport Automation in Finnish Governance Culture - A Critical Discourse Analysis ', Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 3, 1437 . https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031437