Distanciation and inequalities in the Finnish and Swedish monitoring of elder care housing in Arctic communities

Abstract

The Finnish and Swedish legislation on elder care housing aims at empowering and promoting the capability of older persons. In this chapter, the regional monitoring of such elder care housing is studied. The broad context is the Nordic welfare model, in recent years transformed into what is now called New Public Management. We ask how the governmental bodies in the Northern region monitor elder care housing and how they react to information and complaints from various stakeholders regarding the housing services. To accomplish this, we apply Therborn's mechanisms of producing inequalities and how they hinder capability as a theoretical analytical tool by specifically examining the mechanisms of distanciation and exclusion. We then use it to illustrate the monitoring process and analyze the data. Based on a limited number of informal and formal complaints filed at the monitoring bodies (AVI and IVO), we raise concerns about inequalities and distanciation mechanisms that may be the result of a monitoring system that relies on presumed individual capabilities that are not always present. As not everyone has the capability to make a complaint, a system that places the right and the responsibility to complain on an individual level may lead to winners and losers.