“We’re just Steiner and we do our own thing” : Steiner Fest as a case study of event-based community building and identity negotiation in a context shaped by outsider perceptions

Abstract

This thesis examines how Steiner Fest, an event organized for students at Finnish Steiner high schools, contributes to community building and identity in a context shaped by existing perceptions of Steiner education. While event studies have widely explored how events foster belonging, community, and social cohesion, and increasingly acknowledged that event settings are not socially neutral, less attention has been given to how identity is negotiated in event contexts shaped by external stereotypes and socially imposed meanings. This study addresses that gap through a qualitative case study of Steiner Fest.

The empirical material consists of six semi-structured interviews with event founders, school representatives, students, and an alumnus connected to one Finnish Steiner school. The study takes an interpretive approach and combines perspectives from event studies with sociological theories of identity, stigma, and labeling.

The findings indicate that Steiner Fest contributes to community building and sense of community as part of the school’s broader investment in social connection and shared experience. Participants described the event as strengthening relationships, lowering social thresholds, and creating a recurring collective focus that extended beyond the event itself through anticipation, memory, and continuity. At the same time, the event also mattered in relation to identity and external perception by giving students a concrete and socially credible reference point through which to explain the school to outsiders, while also making it easier to identify with the school in more positive ways.

The thesis contributes to event research by showing the value of examining the social impacts of events in relation not only to community and belonging, but also to identity, external perception, and broader social context.