Browsing by Subject "digitalisation"

This thesis analyzes the digitalization policy of the Finnish government. The main attempt is to, firstly, identify the central ideas and ideologies behind the approach of the Finnish government toward societal digitalization. Secondly, the attempt is to analyze them from the perspective of the traditional ideas and ideologies of the Nordic welfare state. The underlining research question is, whether the possible approach of the Finnish government toward digitalization is compatible with the traditional ideas and ideologies of the Nordic welfare state. The method in this thesis is a combination of qualitative content analysis and historical research methods. Qualitative content analysis with a focus on an analysis of ideologies is used for analyzing primary sources. A historical perspective is used in an attempt to locate contemporary societal digitalization on a trajectory of societal transformations in post-industrial capitalist states, as well as when presenting the Nordic welfare state model. Overall, the approach of the Finnish government appears largely in line with traditional Nordic welfare state values, such as equality and inclusion. However, one of the main findings of this thesis is that the approach of the Finnish government toward digitalization is a largely apolitical and instrumentalized one. Although possible political, economic and social implications of digitalization are identified, the government appears more concerned with providing all citizens equal access to digitalization than facilitating a public discussion on the nature, form or scope of the phenomenon. While such a consensual approach may be analyzed from the perspective of the Nordic culture of conformity, one of the main arguments of this thesis is that a politicized approach to digitalization could allow for a fruitful discussion on its eventual effects on society.

The topic of this thesis is to observe how the Centre Party of Finland (Suomen Keskusta), the Social Democratic Party of Finland (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue, SDP) and the National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus) have perceived the information and communication technology (ICT) and its role in the Finnish society between 1999 and 2015 in their party statements and manifestos. The role of ICT in the society is observed especially through the concepts of information society and digitalisation. The topic of this thesis thus ties into the broader 1990s and 2000s discussion on information society and digitalisation. The primary sources for the study include the Centre Party, the Social Democratic Party and the National Coalition Party's party programmes, general election manifestos, municipal election manifestos and party conference statements from 1999 to 2015. The primary sources are analysed by the following electoral terms: 1999-2003, 2003-2007, 2007-2011 and 2011-2015. The 2015 general election manifestos are also included in the set of primary materials, as are the government programmes for each electoral term. The role of government programmes in the study is to support the analysis of the party statements and manifestos. The parties' arguments and perceptions of information and communication technology are analysed using post-structural policy analysis. The main framework for the analysis is Carol Bacchi's What's the problem represented to be analysis. The objective of the thesis is to observe how the parties have represented information and communication technology as a policy problem in their statements, programmes and manifestos during each electoral term. In addition, the objective is to analyse both in the case of each party and between different parties how the problem representations are constructed, with which policy areas ICT is associated in the texts and how these problem representations change and evolve from one electoral term to the other. In addition to Bacchi's WPR-analysis, the analysis also draws from Kari Palonen's concept of politicisation which describes politics as action. In this thesis, the main function of politicisation is to describe how by politicising an issue, the parties open up both political space surrounding the politicised issue and also new opportunities for political action. The main findings of this thesis are that information and communication technology is represented in the parties' general election manifestos and party conference statements using two main representations; either as a means for solving existing social and public policy problems or as a part of a broader discourse on societal change. When represented as a means for solving existing social and public policy problems, ICT is discussed positively, optimistically and mostly to suit the perspective of the party's ideological standing. In the parties' statements and manifestos, the discourse on societal change is strongly tied into economic factors, such as the national competitiveness. ICT is depicted as a matter supporting and enhancing national competitiveness, and information society and digitalisation, in particular, as objectives that will strengthen future national competitiveness. Another finding is that the term “information society” disappears from the parties' manifestos and statements in the early 2010s, when the discussion surrounding ICT in the manifestos and statements shifts to digitalisation.