Michele E. Commercio teaches political science at the University of Vermont.

"The fate of Russian minorities in former Soviet republics has attracted considerable attention since the demise of the Soviet Union. In this book Michele Commercio offers an original contribution to the literature by focusing on the little-researched sphere of informal policies to argue that the degree to which official policies exclude ethnic minorities is in fact inversely related to their propensity to mobilize and seek redress." (Dominique Arel, University of Ottawa) "Commercio is motivated by a genuine intellectual puzzle: why do ethnic Russians in Latvia (where the state pursues discriminatory policies against them) generally remain in the country, while their counterparts in Kyrgyzstan (where the state pursues less discrimination), generally emigrate to Russia? Her answer is at once elegant and well conceived; the difference lies in the stronger interpersonal networks among Russians in Latvia, compared to weaker ones among Russians in Kyrgyzstan." (Edward Schatz, University of Toronto)

• A Note on TransliterationPART IChapter 1. "What the Hell Kind of 'Non-Native' Am I"?Chapter 2. Informal Networks, Exit, and VoiceChapter 3. Soviet Socialist Legacies and Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 4. Opportunity Structures and the Role of Informal Networks in Their ReconfigurationPART IIChapter 5. Native Versus Non-Native: Russian Perceptions of Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 6. Russian Responses to Perceptions of Socioeconomic ProspectsChapter 7. Ethnic Systems in TransitionAppendix: MethodsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

Michele E. Commercio teaches political science at the University of Vermont.

"The fate of Russian minorities in former Soviet republics has attracted considerable attention since the demise of the Soviet Union. In this book Michele Commercio offers an original contribution to the literature by focusing on the little-researched sphere of informal policies to argue that the degree to which official policies exclude ethnic minorities is in fact inversely related to their propensity to mobilize and seek redress." (Dominique Arel, University of Ottawa) "Commercio is motivated by a genuine intellectual puzzle: why do ethnic Russians in Latvia (where the state pursues discriminatory policies against them) generally remain in the country, while their counterparts in Kyrgyzstan (where the state pursues less discrimination), generally emigrate to Russia? Her answer is at once elegant and well conceived; the difference lies in the stronger interpersonal networks among Russians in Latvia, compared to weaker ones among Russians in Kyrgyzstan." (Edward Schatz, University of Toronto)

• A Note on TransliterationPART IChapter 1. "What the Hell Kind of 'Non-Native' Am I"?Chapter 2. Informal Networks, Exit, and VoiceChapter 3. Soviet Socialist Legacies and Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 4. Opportunity Structures and the Role of Informal Networks in Their ReconfigurationPART IIChapter 5. Native Versus Non-Native: Russian Perceptions of Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 6. Russian Responses to Perceptions of Socioeconomic ProspectsChapter 7. Ethnic Systems in TransitionAppendix: MethodsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

Michele E. Commercio teaches political science at the University of Vermont.

"The fate of Russian minorities in former Soviet republics has attracted considerable attention since the demise of the Soviet Union. In this book Michele Commercio offers an original contribution to the literature by focusing on the little-researched sphere of informal policies to argue that the degree to which official policies exclude ethnic minorities is in fact inversely related to their propensity to mobilize and seek redress." (Dominique Arel, University of Ottawa) "Commercio is motivated by a genuine intellectual puzzle: why do ethnic Russians in Latvia (where the state pursues discriminatory policies against them) generally remain in the country, while their counterparts in Kyrgyzstan (where the state pursues less discrimination), generally emigrate to Russia? Her answer is at once elegant and well conceived; the difference lies in the stronger interpersonal networks among Russians in Latvia, compared to weaker ones among Russians in Kyrgyzstan." (Edward Schatz, University of Toronto)

• A Note on TransliterationPART IChapter 1. "What the Hell Kind of 'Non-Native' Am I"?Chapter 2. Informal Networks, Exit, and VoiceChapter 3. Soviet Socialist Legacies and Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 4. Opportunity Structures and the Role of Informal Networks in Their ReconfigurationPART IIChapter 5. Native Versus Non-Native: Russian Perceptions of Post-Soviet NationalizationChapter 6. Russian Responses to Perceptions of Socioeconomic ProspectsChapter 7. Ethnic Systems in TransitionAppendix: MethodsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments