Negotiating Seto Identity in a Borderland : Cultural Continuity, Belonging, Indigeneity and Geopolitical Insecurity in Contemporary Setomaa

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores how the Seto community perceives and navigates challenges to identity, cultural continuity and security, and how they relate to change and future uncertainty within a context of a divided homeland and geopolitical tensions. Perspectives on Seto Indigeneity and the influence of current geopolitical insecurity in Setomaa are explored. Seto identity is understood and negotiated across generations, with belonging and cultural continuity shaped by lived experiences, historical and contemporary Seto practices, and attachment to their Indigenous land. These aspects are discussed in relation to the political and historical conditions currently present in Setomaa. This study is based on qualitative data, based on thirteen conversations with Setos of different ages in Setomaa. The findings show that Seto identity is not fixed but continuously negotiated between inherited belonging and cultural participation. Participants express general concern about language loss, decreasing intergenerational tramission of language and culture, and differing perspectives on Seto traditions. Conversely, some participants view cultural change as necessary for cultural continuity in contemporary society. Setomaa's position as a borderland and rural periphery strongly shapes everyday life through limited employment opportunities, outmigration and structural marginality. Furthermore, Indigeneity appears as contested and politically negotiated category, with differing interpretations of recognition both within the Seto community and in relation to state and institutional frameworks. Ultimately, geopolitical insecurity and proximity to the Estonian–Russian border significantly affect Setos' sense of security. This insecurity is often managed through normalization and adaptation in everyday life. Overall, Seto identity is understood as a lived borderland condition, shaped by intersecting cultural, emotional, political, and geopolitical processes. Rather than a fixed category, Seto identity emerges through continuous negotiation between continuity and change, belonging and exclusion, and stability and uncertainty.