When the State Withdraws from Everyday Life: Centralizing Public Services in an Age of Austerity

Health centres have been relocated further away, local schools have closed, and public administration has moved online or to distant service centres. The official justification is economic and administrative efficiency - but what happens to the welfare state when its visibility in people's daily lives shrinks? It is not merely a matter of distance: when services move away, people's experiences of security, participation, and belonging to society also change.

The event is organized by the research project "The Politics of Distance in 20th and 21st Century Finland" (ETPO). The discussion opens with four keynote presentations: ETPO researchers Mattias Lehtinen and Heikki Sirviö, welfare state historian Minna Harjula, and Sanna Tuurnala, who studies changes in public service systems. The presentations are followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

The event is chaired by ETPO project director Johanna Vuorelma.