Are Russia and Estonia still post-Soviet societies? Or have they already moved beyond the transition stage? What is the new, allegedly "normal" condition that has emerged in Russia and Estonia? This collection argues that contrary to prevailing views, especially in Estonia, the new normalcy continues to be shaped by practices dating back to the period of Soviet rule. The diverse aspects of the heritage of the past become apparent when a perspective "from below" is adopted. In this volume, the continuities and ways that old practices have been adapted to the new situation are largely observed in people's everyday interaction. Strategies of survival and challenging are examined from the fight for human rights by the Soldiers' Mothers in Russia to the complexities of personal identities in the Estonian-Russian, Russian-Latvian and Latvian-Estonian borderlands, from the organisation of voluntary associational activities in Russian Karelia to Estonians' and Russians' social networks in a Tallinn factory