Life strategies in Croatia during the economic crisis and beyond: From survival to advancement

Abstract

The paper presents the reconstruction of the five types of life strategies in Croatia during the wane of the economic crisis (2015). It is based on a qualitative study of 30 households in diverse socio-economic positions from all Croatian regions. Bourdieu?s theory of practice is used as a theoretical and methodological framework, expanded with ideas from the (post) Bourdieusian theoretical vocabulary and recent research about the social structures and mechanisms that work in Croatia?s neoliberal crony capitalism. The interpretative structural constructivist methodology, led by constant comparison, is employed through the categorising and linking processes of coding, category building, and interpretative case matrices. The life strategies reconstructed for Croatia are: 1. Life strategies of social advancement; 2. Life-strategies of preserving the social position; 3. Life strategies of compensating; 4. Life-strategies of getting by; 5. Life strategies of surviving; and their corresponding subtypes. The results point to significant social inequalities, severely unfavourable living conditions for many individuals and households, permanent and harsh consequences of the post-socialist transformation, as well as old and new pressures and challenges imposed by the economic crisis and beyond.