Unveiling Urban Citizenship: Exploring Russophone Minorities and Estonian Majorities in the Cityscape

This research explores how the ‘urban’ shapes notions of citizenship, difference, and hierarchies of belonging, shifting the analytical lens from the state to the city—a key focus of the workshop. By adopting the perspective of 'seeing like a city,' the study unfolds the contested urban milieu as a dynamic space of generative difference, echoing the workshop's emphasis on reevaluating political concepts within the urban context. Through an exploration of Russophone minorities and Estonian majorities in micro-districts of Tallinn Estonia , the research provides insight into various dynamics that frame citizenship, create mechanisms of othering and exclusion within the city, The exploration is anchored in micro-districts, dissecting the confluence of identity, belonging, and spatial configurations. By foregrounding the city as the primary arena for understanding political dynamics, the research not only aligns with the workshop's goal of attributing theoretical primacy to urbanity but also contributes to the overarching theme of challenging common (statist) imaginaries in political theory. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of the research, which intertwines political theory with the lived geography of urban spaces, resonates with the workshop's call for papers exploring the intersections of political theory with geography or spatial sociology. In summary, this research not only contributes to the workshop's overarching objective of reimagining political concepts through an urban lens but also demonstrates the nuanced linkages between the city and the state, offering a fresh perspective on the multifaceted dynamics of urban citizenship