Ohjattua vapautta? Itsemääräämisoikeus hallinnan välineenä

Abstrakti

Managed autonomy? The right of self-determination as a means of control

The article concerns a situation where personal autonomy (or, the right of self-determination) is being increasingly emphasised in the Finnish legal system, but at the same time, where the ways in which that autonomy is being exercised are subject to close scrutiny. The author adopts a critical perspective, approaching the topic not only from a jurisprudential, but also from a governmentality viewpoint. The author sees personal autonomy as an implicit fundamental right, which is further divided into liberalistic and social variants, and offers three recent legislative examples to illustrate the strengthening of the right to personal autonomy. The intersection of these themes is discussed from the perspectives of so-called constitutional managerialism and the surreptitious forms of governance. The author discusses also the subject positions which are related to the exercise of personal autonomy. The fact that personal autonomy is referred to when an individual is being engaged, encouraged to participate, and also encouraged to carry increasing responsibility of his or her own well-being, may in practice narrow down his or her actual freedom. Thus, it can be argued that personal autonomy and its restrictions create a continuum which indirectly illustrates the hierarchy of these variants. The liberalistic variant has a clearer legal definition – restriction of the right typically requires a formal decision with the possibility to appeal – whereas the social variant is governed by more vague legal devices. Hence, personal autonomy may be seen as a construction which enables the implicit use of public power. It can be hypothesised that governance through personal autonomy will increase in the future, in particular in the context of the currently active process of social and health services reform.