Introduzione. Mobilità interconnesse e trasformazioni del sociale nello spazio est europeo

Over the past three decades, a series of relevant geopolitical transformations – including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the so-called “refugee crisis,” population movements following the post-Yugoslav conflicts, return migration, tourism, and the expansion of international aid economies – have intertwined complex and stratified patterns of mobility linking Eastern Europe to broader global circulations. Building on insights from mobility studies, this thematic section examines the intricate interconnections among these diverse forms of movement and seeks to move beyond conventional dichotomies such as those between internal and international migration, transit and return, or voluntary and forced displacement. Drawing on area studies, it highlights the entangled and hierarchical reconfiguration of borders and the differentiated mobility regimes to which migrants are subjected. Within this shifting landscape, the ethnographic contributions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Moldova trace how interrelated mobilities are embedded in global mobility regimes. Furthermore, they illuminate the emic categories, temporalities, and imaginaries through which local actors make sense of mobility (or immobility) in the specific historical and social settings. By bringing these perspectives into dialogue, this Thematic Section contributes to both area studies and the broader anthropological debate on mobility.