Paper short abstract:

This paper describes a political campaign by private ferry associations in Finland. By describing their demand for the nationalisation of their ferry operations, this paper analyses the conflicting relationships among a Nordic welfare state, private infrastructure, and solidarity between citizens.

Paper long abstract:

When states intervene in the formation and maintenance of infrastructure, a distinction between the private and public domains of the infrastructure is created. When it comes to transportation, it is the collective need of the people that determines the public/private nature of a service. In political decisions, the collective need for a specific mode of transportation must be compared with other collective needs. For example, if one road is deemed to be public, other roads with similar geographical articulations should also be publicly maintained. If public infrastructure invokes comparison, how does the comparison create solidarities among people in need of transportation and, inevitably, discrepancies among them?

This paper describes a political campaign by private ferry associations in Finland. Although most maritime traffic is free for passengers and operated by local governments in Finland, there remain 14 private ferries operated by groups of locals across the country. Recently, these groups have collectively demanded the nationalisation of their ferry operations based on the egalitarianism of social democracy. How are their sociotechnical articulations of private ferry routes woven into each of their rationales for nationalisation? By describing the socio-economic environments of each ferry route and the public social services provided/denied for those who live beyond the private ferry routes, this paper analyses the conflicting relationship between a Nordic welfare state, private infrastructure, and fragile solidarity based on ideals such as autonomy and citizenship.