The aim of the research was to identify, describe and classify changes in the social practices of individuals and households in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia brought about by the last world economic crisis. The research had several basic tasks. The first one was to identify, describe and create a typology of survival/coping strategies which are used by members of households in SEE societies in an attempt to preserve or improve their economic and social position in the times of crisis. The second task was search for stable patterns of social practices in the fields outside the economic one, i.e. the field of education, which could enable the construction of a typology of broader life strategies. The third aim was 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. Fourth, we have sought 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 was to acquire data which would allow us to compare these “responses to crisis” in four target societies in general, and among the members of the same social groups in different societies.

Im Forschungsprojekt wurden die Veränderungen der sozialen Praktiken von Individuen und Haushalten in Serbien, Bosnien-Herzegowina, Kroatien und Slowenien, die durch die aktuelle Wirtschaftskrise ausgelöst wurden, untersucht. In transnationaler Perspektive beinhaltet dies die Analyse der Unterstützungsleistungen von Personen im Ausland, insbesondere in der Schweiz, an Einwohner der genannten Länder.