The limits of public and private spheres in time of crisis: The case of COVID-19

The state has existed after the individual started to live in society. The crises, turmoil and insecurity experienced by society have given the state the responsibility to create the ideal order. The focus has been on how the state will maintain order and how the individual will be kept safe, and what the extent of the state's authority should be for the stable continuity of equality and freedom, which is the natural right of the individual. While the public sphere is the open space where all citizens are free to move around, the private sphere is the space that is open only to the individual himself/herself or those close to him/her - family, friends - and closed to other groups. The state's intervention in the public sphere, where any citizen can move freely regardless of religion, language, race or ethnic identity, and in the private sphere, which belongs only to the individual, is limited. The aim of this thesis is to make an assessment on the extent and limits of the state's authority to intervene in the private and public spheres during a crisis. In this context, the change in the extent of the state's authority to intervene during the pandemic is analysed. Within the scope of the study, the rights and limits of the state, the public and private sphere, and the practices during the Covid-19 outbreak were examined. This examination focuses on whether the boundaries of the state have expanded during the pandemic. During the Covid-19 period, it was examined whether the limitation and intervention of the individual by the state in both the public and private spheres increased. Within the scope of the research, it was tried to determine to what extent the freedom of individuals was narrowed by state authority.