COVID-19, mobility and self-isolation. Experiences of the Serbia’s citizens in the times of global pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus and closing the state borders across the world led to the mass return of the citizens of Serbia immediately before and after the declaration of the state of emergency in March 2020. The measure of placing under health supervision and the obligation of self-isolation, were the key means of mobility management in the situation of the health crisis in Serbia. How were the given measures implemented? How did they affect the citizens who returned to the country? What resources did they have at their disposal and in what way did they meet their basic needs during self-isolation? How was their experience of self-isolation shaped by public media perceptions of diaspora by representatives of the authorities and by their own social environment during the state of emergency? The aim of this paper is to answer these questions relying on the results of the online survey of 305 returnees, conducted during April and May 2020 by the researchers from the Institute for Sociological Research of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.