Urban Citizenship and Implications for the Nation: Russophone Minorities and Discursive Othering in Tallinn Cityscape

How do migrant neighborhoods shape urban conceptions of citizenship beyond rights,duties and status of citizenry? This research investigates the intricate connections between politics, daily interactions, and national discourses of citizenship by closely examining the citizenship practices of Lasnamäe residents—a predominantly Russophone neighborhood in the heart of Tallinn, Estonia. The research aims to evaluate citizenship in the urban milieu, framing local ethnopolitics as sites of contestation between ethnic majorities and minorities, while also problematizing citizenship as practice, discourse, and narrative at the local level. The research urges a deeper embedding of local ethnopolitics beyond a solely ethno-linguistic lens, framing them instead within relational spatiality and alterity which create nuances and hierarchies of belonging, citizenship and exclusion. This work underscores how seemingly non-political, daily interactions—emphasizing community belonging and embedding into the nation—can be rendered political when the research site is perceived as an outsider to national identity and space. Lasnamäe, as one such urban space highlights how identity, memory, everyday community activities become sites to negotiate insider status. Drawing on the concept of performative and lived citizenship which emphasizes relational dimensions of politics, this research highlights how socio-spatial relations shape narratives of belonging. These practices illustrate the complex interplay of demands, perceptions and historic continuity in urban spaces. It explores how community gardening initiatives, historical walking tours, and perceptions of parks as historical landmarks seek to embed Lasnamäe within a larger national narrative.