International projects
Life-Strategies and Survival Strategies of Households and Individuals in South-East Euroepan Societies in the Times of Crisis
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The aim of the research is to identify, describe and classify changes in social practices of individuals and households in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia brought about by the current world economic crisis. The research has several basic tasks. The first one is to identify, describe and create a typology of survival/coping strategies which are used by members of households in SEE societies in the attempt to preserve or improve their economic and social position in the times of crisis. Since such strategies in contemporary societies often have a transnational character, we also study the receipt of transnational support in form of remittances and social support in the four SEE countries from co-national migrants abroad. Furthermore, we analyze the giving of transnational support by migrants from these countries in Switzerland. The second task is to search for stable patterns of social practices in the fields outside the economic one, f.e. the education field, which would enable the construction of a typology of broader life strategies. The third aim is to identify and describe changes in consumption patterns of citizens of these societies in the conditions of economic deprivation, that is, changes in their lifestyles. For both the second and the third topic we also proceed according to a comparative method, juxtaposing persons in SEE countries and migrants from these countries in Switzerland. Fourthly we seek for an identification of differences between strategies and lifestyles of the members of different social groups in the studied societies. Finally, the last series of tasks refers to comparing these “responses to crisis“ in four target societies in general and among the members of the same social groups in different societies.
